Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
American Latino Heritage
National Mall and Memorial Parks
Located in Washington, DC, the National Mall and Memorial Parks (NAMA) protects and administers some of the oldest parkland in the National Park System. Its many monuments, memorials, and buildings are tangible reminders of the commitment of the United States to freedom and equality within its own borders and around the world. While many of these sites recognize the legacies of presidents, Civil Rights leaders, and other influential figures in the American story, others commemorate the contributions of Latino leaders who brought freedom and change throughout the Americas and played important roles in the history of the United States.
Between 1808 and 1826, Hispanic liberators fought against the Spanish Empire in a series of military engagements, known collectively as the Wars of Independence, to establish independent nations throughout the Americas. The success of the American colonists in defeating the British during the American Revolutionary War influenced these liberators as they sought to establish republic ideals throughout the Americas and to gain independence from Spain. Through the Wars of Independence, Hispanic liberators successfully freed most of the Spanish colonies in the Western Hemisphere, except Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Statues in the National Mall and Memorial Parks honor Hispanic liberators José Gervasio Artigas, Simón Bolívar, José de San Martín, Bernardo de Gálvez, and Benito Juarez. These statues were gifts from Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela to the United States. Additional historic places in Washington, DC that recognize the contributions of other Hispanic leaders to the history of the United States include Farragut Square, the Organization of American States Building, and the Columbus Memorial Fountain.
A walking tour along Virginia Avenue, NW, from Constitution Avenue, NW to New Hampshire Avenue, is the best way to see these sites. The National Mall and Memorial Parks’ “Statues of the Liberators, Hispanic Heroes Walking Tour” is available as a printed brochure that can be downloaded here. Visitors are encouraged to follow the tour with an audio narrative by calling 202-595-1730. After viewing what there is to see along Virginia Avenue, NW visitors can head to Farragut Square and the Columbus Memorial Fountain to see additional places that commemorate Hispanic leaders.
A good place to begin a walking tour is at the Organization of American States (OAS) Building, located at 17th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. This building, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, was constructed to house the Pan American Union (later renamed the Organization of American States). The Pan American Union was established to strengthen relationships between the nations of the Americas, to support democracies, and to resolve international issues peacefully. Using Georgian, Tennessee, and Italian marble, architects blended North and South American architectural styles to construct the building in 1908. The area near the OAS building became a central location for the placement of statues and memorials commemorating Hispanic liberators.
Abandoning his allegiance to the Buenos Aires junta, Artigas then became the leader of independence for Uruguay and retreated to an interior part of the country where he proclaimed himself “Protector of Free Peoples.” In 1820, Artigas unsuccessfully fought Brazil’s annexation of Uruguay, and he was forced to live in exile in Paraguay. In 1825, Uruguay finally attained independence – a triumph due in part to the initial efforts of Jose Artigas.
Born into an aristocratic family in Argentina, San Martín received his education as a boy in Spain. He then pursued a career in the Spanish Army and even fought against Napoleon. He became interested in a new cause when Argentina declared its independence from Spain and immediately requested to be relieved of his command to return to South America. Once in South America, Martín offered his services in the Argentinean, Chilean, and Peruvian struggles for freedom. He even led a dangerous 24-day march through the Andes to overcome the Spanish for the liberation of Chile.
Leaving the General José de San Martín Memorial, continue northwest on Virginia Avenue about two and a half blocks to the Bernardo de Gálvez Statue at 20th Street and Virginia Avenue, NW. King Juan Carlos of Spain made a gift of this equestrian statue to the United States in 1976 in honor of the United States’ bicentennial. Bernardo de Gálvez (1746-1786) was the governor of the Spanish province of Louisiana during the American Revolution and played a pivotal role in supporting the American colonies’ fight for independence. Gálvez provided supplies to the American colonists and forced the British out of west Florida. He corresponded directly with leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and sealed off New Orleans so that the British could not use the Mississippi River. Even though he was the governor of Louisiana who owed allegiance to the Spanish Crown, he aided the American colonists in their fight for independence by helping them defeat the British.
After viewing the many sites along Constitution and Virginia Avenues, take a short excursion to nearby Farragut Square to see a statue of David G. Farragut. Farragut Square is between K Street NW on the north, I Street NW on the south, and parts of East and West 17th Street about 10 blocks north of the OAS Building (where the walking tour began). The United States Congress in 1872 commissioned the David G. Farragut statue in the square. Its dedication occurred on April 25, 1881. David G. Farragut (1801-1870), whose father was a Spanish merchant captain who served in the American Revolution and the War of 1812, began his life as a sailor in the U.S. Navy at the young age of 9. By the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865), Farragut had already proven himself repeatedly in the military. Although he grew up in the South, Farragut chose to fight with the Union during the Civil War. He led many successful military campaigns during the Civil War, but is especially renowned for taking the city and port of New Orleans and eventually securing Mobile Bay, a seaport in the Gulf of Mexico, for the Union.