Latinas Talk Latinas
This series introduces you to the lives of influential Latinas, told by curators, scientists, and educators across the Smithsonian. Join them as they explore stories of labor organizing, fashion, music, science exploration, performance, and art that have shaped the United States.
Jessica Govea was a labor leader and organizer who started at a very young age. She began working alongside Cesar Chavez in the Community Service Organization and was later instrumental in the founding of the United Farm Workers union, extending her organizing power to Canada.
Mireya Loza is curator of Girlhood (It’s Complicated!) exhibition at the National Museum of American History, and an assistant professor in the Department of History at Georgetown University.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
In this story of pachucas we celebrate their role in the making of pachuco culture and for the ways in which their fashion stood in defiance of Mexican gender norms, second-class citizenship, and white middle-class ideas of American womanhood.
Verónica A. Méndez is a curator in the Division of Military and Political History at the National Museum of American History.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
Clotilde Arias’s story reminds us of the resilience and creativity of many Latina immigrants. She succeeded in a male-dominated world in New York in the ’40s and ’50s. Her best-known act of patriotism was creating a singable Spanish-language version of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Magdalena Mieri is the director of the Program in Latino History and Culture at the National Museum of American History.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
Margaret (Marge) Villa was among the very few women professional baseball players and a record-setting catcher. Villa broke gender barriers in the early ’40s at age 16 while playing in East Los Angeles, California.
Margaret (Margie) Salazar-Porzio is a curator of Latinx History at the National Museum of American History.
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Sylvia Rivera was a transgender woman living in New York City during the ’60s and ’70s. She became a fierce defender of LGBTQ+ rights, pushing the movement in the aftermath of the Stonewall riots to vigilantly protect transgender people’s rights.
Taína Caragol is a curator of Latino Art and History at the National Portrait Gallery.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
Through the story of Celia Cruz we learn about the complexities of belonging and how her music gave her the sense of “home.” Exiled from Cuba, she succeeded in New York and through the world. She was an icon larger than life taking salsa music beyond borders and musical boundaries.
Leslie Ureña is an Associate Curator for photographs at the National Portrait Gallery.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
Ellen Ochoa was the first Latina astronaut in space and first Latina, only the second woman, to serve as the Director of the Johnson Space Center, responsible for all astronaut activities for NASA. Find out how this daring and tenacious Latina went beyond the barrier and set new heights for young girls to reach for the stars.
Emily Key is the director of education at the Smithsonian Latino Center.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
Alida Ortiz Sotomayor was the first Puerto Rican woman to obtain a Ph.D. in Marine Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez in 1976. She was one of the founders and the first Director of the Coastal Marine Biology Program from the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao and developed the first Earth Sciences curriculum for the Public Schools of Puerto Rico and has trained hundreds of teachers in Marine Education.
Brenda Soler Figueroa is a Marine Invasions Researcher at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
Diosa Costello was a pioneering Latina Broadway performer, building a decades long career with her talent in music, dance, and acting. She starred in movies such as Too Many Girls! and the legendary Broadway show South Pacific. Her foundational story paves the way for many of our beloved Latinas actress and musicians of today!
Ashley Mayor is a Curatorial Assistant in the Division of Culture and the Arts at the National Museum of American History.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
Selena Quintanilla was a pioneering performer who started as a young girl within the Tejano music scene and eventually moved into several genres of Spanish-language music and crossed over into mainstream English-language music in the United States. This video explores her legacy, across the United States and through the Smithsonian collections.
Verónica A. Méndez is a curator in the Division of Military and Political History at the National Museum of American History; Mireya Loza is a curator of the Girlhood (It’s complicated!) exhibition at the National Museum of American History, and an associate professor in the Department of History at Georgetown University.
Use this video in your classroom! Check out this Learning Lab collection.
All of these videos are available on our YouTube channel and Smithsonian Learning Lab collections.
