Latinas

Screenprint of Lydia Mendoza playing the guitar

Illustration of S. Anesta Samuel standing on a New York City intersection of S. Anesta Samuel Ave., LaFayette Ave., and St. James Pl. She wears a colorful dress with swirls.

Portrait of S. Anesta Samuel by Rafael López. Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino.

Close up of Ana Mendieta. Her eyes are closed and her expression is calm.

Still image from Ana Mendieta’s Sweating Blood, 1973, single channel, super-8mm film transferred to high-definition digital media, color, silent; 03:18 min., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, Administered through the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, 2021.38, © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection LLC. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Story

How Groundbreaking Artist Ana Mendieta Remembered her Homeland

Illustration of Puerto Rican writer, Lola Rodríguez de Tió, from bust-up, holding a book open toward her. She has black, straight hair, pulled back, and a medium skin tone. She wears a gray, button-up dress, white collar, and a puffy necktie. Behind her, yellow, pink, and green leaves, and branches.

Story

Latina Identities in Art and Literature

Illustration of quarter featuring Nina Otero-Warren with her hands clasped, three flowers, and the text "Voto Para La Mujer."

Image of 2022 Nina Otero-Warren quarter, part of the American Women Quarters™ Program. Copyright United States Mint. Used with permission.

Story

Nina Otero-Warren Improved Education and Fought for Suffrage

Black and white photo of Marge Villa about to bat. She wears a baseball hat and uniform.

Marge Villa baseball card for the AAGPBL’s Kenosha (Wisconsin) Comets, issued 1995. National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Story

Latinas in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

Two Afro-Latina women in front of a Garifuna food truck

Sazón Garifuna food truck. 2020. Photograph by John Nova Lomax for the Brays Oaks Management District, Houston TX

Story

Latina Entrepreneurs Past and Present

Illustration of Judy Baca with an oversize paintbrush in front of a mural

Rafael López, 2021. National Museum of the American Latino.

Collection Item

Artist Judy Baca Embraces Community

Cover of Hispanic magazine, April 1993. Gift of Linda Alvarado.

Story

Three Latinas Who Made Baseball History

Colorful illustration of Carmen Herrera opening a box

Carmen Herrera illustrated by Ezra Gaeta.

In Awe of the Straight Line: A Webcomic about Artist Carmen Herrera

Painting of Julia De Burgos's face in front of a river with palm trees on either side. Her name is printed at the top of the stamp.

Collection Item

Julia de Burgos Stamp National Postal Museum

Art of Yolanda M. López as the Virgin of Guadalupe. She wears running shoes and holds a snake in one hand. In the other hand she holds a wide piece of fabric that fans out behind her.

"Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe” by Yolanda M. López from her Guadalupe series. Archives of American Art, Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material on Chicano art, 1965-2004. Donated by Ybarra-Frausto in 1997 and 2004.

Story

Remembering Artist and Activist Yolanda M. López

Screenprint of Lydia Mendoza playing the guitar, looking directly at the camera

“Lydia Mendoza, Ciudad Juarez, 1937” by Ester Hernández, 1987. Screenprint on paper. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. © 1987 Ester Hernández

Story

The First “Queen of Tejano” and Six More Women to Know this Hispanic Heritage Month

Help Amplify the Voices of American Women

Donate Now Other Ways to Give

Latinas

Join the Because of Her Story Community

Help Amplify the Voices of American Women

Discover Her Story