Proclamation 5701 --
National Hispanic Heritage Week, 1987
September 11, 1987
By
the President of the United States of
America
A
Proclamation
During
National Hispanic Heritage Week, all Americans can recognize, honor, and
celebrate the rich and diverse contributions Hispanic Americans have made to
our land ever since the exploration and settlement of the Western Hemisphere.
People
of Hispanic culture have been present in the Americas from early times and
have exerted much influence on the development of the United States. Hispanic explorers
helped open the New World, discover its resources, and found its new
nations, including parts of our own. Explorers such as Coronado in the 16th century
traveled throughout the present-day United States, and Spaniards settled
in St.
Augustine,
Florida, long before Jamestown was founded. The
founding of missions and presidios in California was simultaneous with
the American Revolution; and when the new United States had won, thanks in part
to Spanish help, Te Deum masses of thanksgiving were celebrated in those
missions, just as throughout all Spanish colonies. In the 19th century, the
vision of liberty inspired countless brave Latin Americans to fight for
independence for their countries. Today, Hispanics carry on the dream of
freedom throughout the hemisphere, and democracy is enjoying a broad
resurgence.
The
Spanish names bestowed on so many of our cities, towns, States, rivers,
mountains, and lakes -- Los Angeles, Sacramento, Guadalupe, Colorado, Sierra
Nevada, for instance -- remind us daily that the values of Hispanic Americans,
such as devotion to church, family, work, and community, helped settle our
frontiers and build our future. Hispanic Americans have served and sacrificed
time and again in the Armed Forces to keep our Nation free. Hispanic cultural
heritage is a constant source of enrichment for our country, and Hispanic
Americans are a source of close ties to the nations of Central and South America.
America's Hispanic heritage is
an indelible and invaluable part of our history and a vital part of the
creative forces that are shaping our future.
In
recognition of the outstanding achievements of Hispanic Americans, the
Congress, by Joint Resolution approved September 17, 1968 (Public Law 90 -
498), has authorized and requested the President to issue annually a
proclamation designating the week including September 15 and 16 as National
Hispanic Heritage Week.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning September
13, 1987,
as National Hispanic Heritage Week, in recognition of the Hispanic individuals,
families, and communities who enrich our national life. I call upon the people
of the United States, especially educators,
to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of Sept., in the
year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and
twelfth.
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register, 4:34 p.m., September 11, 1987]