National Hispanic heritage was first officially celebrated in the United States in 1968, when Congress created National Hispanic Heritage Week and President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation for it.

Quick Scoop: Key Dates

  • 1968: Congress passes a joint resolution creating National Hispanic Heritage Week, tied to the week including September 15–16 to align with several Latin American independence days.
  • 1968: President Lyndon B. Johnson issues the first proclamation, marking the first formal nationwide celebration of Hispanic heritage in the U.S.
  • 1988: President Ronald Reagan signs a law expanding the observance from a week to a full month, September 15 to October 15, now known as National Hispanic Heritage Month.

So, when people ask “when was Hispanic heritage first celebrated?” in the official U.S. national sense, the answer is: it began as a federally recognized Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 , and later grew into the month- long celebration we know today.

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