Introduction

Welcome to the Latinx Studies Research Guide. This guide highlights resources part of the Library of Congress collections related to the history, cultures, literature, politics, experiences, and performing arts of the Latinx community in the United States. In this guide you will find links to primary sources through a curated list of collections organized by format, electronic databases to locate journals and scholarly articles, and a bibliography with links to search the Library of Congress Online Catalog.

This guide serves as a starting point to discover what the Library has to offer on topics related to Latinx Studies. To get started, click on links or images throughout this guide's pages to quickly access more information or review the Research Strategies page for tips to search within the Library's catalog and digital collections.

Have a question? Submit inquiries to Ask a Librarian and one of our librarians will assist you!

Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. [A]rtist and educator Betsy Casanas ... [created] this mural celebrating the contributions made by the region's Hispanic and Latinx communities. 2018. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

Carol M. Highsmith, 1946-, photographer. In 2017 Buffalo, New York, artist and educator Betsy Casanas was invited by the city's Albright-Knox Public Art Initiative, the Hispanic Heritage Council, and the Rich Famly Foundation to create what became this mural celebrating the contributions made by the region's Hispanic and Latinx communities. 2018. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Camilo J. Vergara, photographer. 818 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, 2007. Ocampo, pintor. 2007. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

Camilo J. Vergara, photographer. 818 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, 2007. Ocampo, pintor. 2007. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Camilo J. Vergara, photographer. Mural by Manny Vega, Bronx. [between 1980 and 2010]. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division

Camilo J. Vergara, photographer. Mural by Manny Vega, Bronx. [between 1980 and 2010] Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. Wall mosaic in the Italian-American (and, as of 2019, increasingly Hispanic) neighborhood of south Philadelphia... Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Carol M. Highsmith, 1946-, photographer. Wall mosaic in the Italian-American (and, as of 2019, increasingly Hispanic) neighborhood of south Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Have you heard of the term Latinx?

"Latinx intends to describe the in-between space in which Latinx live, which allows us to cross racial boundaries more easily and construct identities, or self-images, that include a wide variety of racial, national, and even gender-based identification."
—Ed Morales
Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture

Latinx is a gender-neutral term that has gained popularity in recent years as an alternative to the gendered forms of Latina, Latino, or even Latin@. The Library of Congress actively collects materials in various formats that document the history and culture of the US Latina(o)/Latinx community.

What do you think of this term? Is it an appropriate, more inclusive term to describe a complex and multi-cultural community? Or do you find it difficult to use and include it in context? Let us know what you think by submitting a message through Ask a Librarian.

About the Hispanic Reading Room

The Hispanic Reading Room is the primary access point for research related to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. and peoples of Portuguese or Spanish heritage in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Hispanic Reading Room
Submit a question through our Ask a Librarian service, call the Research Center at (202) 707-5400, or visit us in person in Room LJ-240 of the Thomas Jefferson building in Washington, D.C. Learn more about conducting research in our reading room.

Latinx Studies: Library of Congress Resources

Caribbean, Iberian & Latin American Studies: Ask a Librarian