Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, or “Other”?: Deconstructing the Relationship between Historians and Hispanic-American Educational History

Abstract

The educational history of Hispanic Americans is not a “new” history. Hispanic peoples began exploration, settlement, and even schooling in North America in the sixteenth century. A more appropriate metaphor is to think of Hispanic educational history as a rich, unearthed site awaiting the work of archivists and researchers. There is no doubt that the large post-1965 immigration of Latinos to the United States renewed interest among scholars in the history of these peoples. Yet contemporary social, political, economic, and educational issues raise the troubling question of why Hispanic-American history has remained neglected for so long. This essay is a beginning towards understanding the relationship between historians and the educational history of Hispanic Americans during the last century. Specifically, this historiographical inquiry examines some barriers that have dissuaded scholars from exploring the history of Latino influences in North America, assesses current writings, and recommends new directions for scholars wishing to pursue inquiry into the field of Hispanic-American educational history.