September 6, 2006 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to Deliver Hispanic Heritage Month Keynote

Press Contact: Erin Allen (202) 707-7302
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Alberto Gonzales, United States attorney general, will deliver the keynote address for the Library of Congress 2006 celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 10 a.m. in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.

The event is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required. The theme of this year's celebration, which runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, is "Hispanic Americans: Our Rich Culture Contributing to America's Future."

Gonzales was sworn in as the nation's 80th attorney general on Feb. 3, 2005. Prior to serving at the Department of Justice, he was commissioned as White House counsel to President George W. Bush, as well as a justice to the Supreme Court of Texas. As Texas' 100th secretary of state, Gonzales served as senior adviser to then Governor Bush and as chief elections officer and lead liaison to Mexico.

Among his many professional and civic activities, Gonzales was elected to the American Law Institute and served on the boards of the Texas Bar Foundation, State Bar of Texas, Houston Hispanic Bar Association and United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast.

In 2003 Gonzales was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame, was honored with the Good Neighbor Award from the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and received President's Awards from the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Gonzales was also recognized as the 1999 Latino Lawyer of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association, and he received a Presidential Citation from the State Bar of Texas in 1997 for his dedication to addressing basic legal needs of the indigent.

In addition to the Sept. 20 keynote address, the Library will present three more events to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month:

  • Helen Langa, professor of art history at American University, speaks on the Chicana Art Movement on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at noon in Dining Room A on the sixth floor of the Madison Building.
  • The film "Mad Hot Ballroom" is showing Wednesday, Oct. 4, from noon to 2 p.m. in the Mary Pickford Theater, third floor, Madison Building.
  • A cultural performance featuring the musical group Los EspaƱoles, along with the dance troupe Los Quetzales, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at noon in the Mumford room on the sixth floor of the Madison Building.

A special display from the Library's collections highlighting the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the nation will be on view in the Madison Building foyer throughout the month.

The Hispanic and Portuguese collections of the Library of Congress comprise more than 10 million items, including books, maps and retrospective holdings of government serials, newspapers and other periodicals and are believed to be the most extensive such collections in the world. For more information about the Library's Luso-Hispanic holdings, visit the Library's Hispanic Reading Room in person or online at www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic.

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PR 06-162
2006-09-06
ISSN 0731-3527