Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) is an excellent time to take a moment and reflect on the lives of some of those who came before. Although you may not know of many of them, these are Hispanic men and women of extraordinary courage, vision and resolve who opened the doors for those who followed. To help celebrate these special days, we are paying tribute to eight such figures of U.S. Hispanic history whose lives and accomplishments should not be forgotten.
Luis W. Alvarez was a Californian who spent most of his career teaching at UC Berkeley. He cemented his worldwide reputation as a brilliant scientist and inventor by winning the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physics.
He was a key figure in the Manhattan Project, which was the name of the effort to develop the first atomic bomb during World War II. He also flew as a scientific observer in the plane that carried the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
An avid inventor, he was granted more than 40 patents. Some of his most important work came in the area of radar and navigation, including development of the ground controlled approach system that enables planes to land in poor visibility.
Ellen Lauri Ochoa is not the sort to be stopped by a glass ceiling, or any kind of ceiling; in fact, for her not even the sky is the limit. Ochoa blazed her own trail in 1993 by becoming the first Hispanic woman in space.
Now 50, Ms. Ochoa has a PhD in electrical engineering and was part of a nine-day mission on the shuttle Discovery, during which the crew studied the earth's ozone layer.
Her journey into space started with selection by NASA in early 1990; 18 months later she became an astronaut. Ochoa has since completed four flights, logging almost 1,000 hours in space.
Soprano Lucrezia Bori made her operatic debut in Rome at the age of 21, sang with Caruso in Paris two years later, and over the next 25 years became a leading performer at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Over the course of 19 seasons, more than 600 performances and 29 roles with the company, she enjoyed critical acclaim, enormous public popularity and great affection from fellow performers.
After retiring from the stage, Bori, who died in 1960 at the age of 73, became director of the Metropolitan Opera Association, where her tireless fundraising earned her the nickname "the opera's Joan of Arc."
While Hispanic performers shine brightly across today's entertainment industry, one of the most famous stars ever was Ramon Novarro, known as the "Latin Lover" in the era of silent movies. He was a trailblazer for U.S. Hispanic actors.
Born in Mexico in 1899, Novarro began playing bit parts in films in 1917. He scored his first success in "Scaramouche" in 1923, but it was his performance in the title role of "Ben-Hur" two years later that made him a Hollywood sensation.
He was hugely popular playing action characters with a strong romantic streak, and at his peak he was earning more than $100,000 per movie -- a princely sum in the days when fine houses went for less than $30,000. Move over Andy Garcia, Mr. Novarro remains the hottest Hispanic leading man in Hollywood history.
Romana Acosta Banuelos, the first Latina Treasurer of the United States when she served from 1971 to 1974, is a shining example of someone overcoming all the odds to reach the top.
She is the daughter of poor Mexican immigrants who were deported by the U.S, government in 1933 -- along with thousands of other Mexican-Americans -- during the Great Depression.
Despite her hardships, Banuelos went from rags to riches. After returning to the U. S. with two children, no husband, little knowledge of English, and almost no money, she became a very successful businesswoman and was tapped by President Nixon for the Office of Treasurer.
Jose Antonio Romualdo Pacheco, though he lived and died more than a century ago, is still an important figure in California and U.S. history. He remains the only Hispanic Governor of California, and was the first governor born in that state.
During a distinguished 30-year political career, he served as governor in 1875, spent three terms in the House of Representatives, and served as state treasurer.
Pacheco, who was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1831 and educated in Hawaii, began political life as a Democrat, later switched to the National Union Party, but held most of his elected positions as a Republican. He died in Oakland, California, in 1899.
Hispanics are among this country's greatest baseball players, but the first few steps along that road were taken about 140 years ago by Esteban Bellan, the first Hispanic to play Major League Baseball.
Bellan learned the game in high school in New York between 1863 and 1868. After graduation he joined the Troy Haymakers and played in the National Association, which later became the National League. The Haymakers would become the New York Giants, now the San Francisco Giants.
After five pro seasons in the U.S., Bellán became a successful player-manager in his native Cuba, taking Habana to three national championships. He died in 1932.
Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American farm worker who became a pivotal figure in labor relations and civil rights, probably needs no introduction here.
Indeed, he is held in such high regard that eight states have declared his birthday, March 31, a public holiday. His name also graces parks, schools, streets, and other public places across the nation.
Among his lasting legacies is the United Farm Workers, a union which evolved from the National Farm Workers Association. Chavez co-founded the association, helped organize strikes, and led marches to secure better wages, working conditions, and civil rights.
Source: HispanicBusiness.com
