Professor discusses history of Latinos in Wisconsin during Hispanic Heritage Month
-
0:45
Milwaukee city leaders, students celebrate Arbor Day with tree...
-
1:38
Elite Sports Clubs serves up fun this April for National Pickleball...
-
5:07
CBS 58’s Feel Good Fridays: Free visit to the Milwaukee Art...
-
2:06
Meet CBS 58’s Pet of the Week: Benji
-
2:21
Multiple chances for strong to severe storms this weekend
-
2:06
’It’s such a strong historical aspect of Waterford’: Community...
-
3:21
Old text messages between GOP operatives spark anger; voting...
-
2:04
’I just wanted to get the bus to stop’: 8th grader takes...
-
0:22
Milwaukee Diaper Mission celebrates documentary about the nonprofit’s...
-
1:31
Under 90 days until RNC: How fundraising, security is ramping...
-
2:18
’It’s certainly an honor’: Milwaukee Public Market named...
-
1:35
Is now the time to buy a home? New report shows home prices up...
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- This week, Gateway Technical College continues its slate of events in observation of National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Dr. Pilar Melero, a professor of Spanish and Latin American/Latinx literature at UW-Whitewater, gave a history lesson of the first Latinos in the state.
One of the things, according to Melero, that many don't know is that Latinos have deep roots in the state -- a fact that she likes to highlight because she believes many Americans consider Latinos recent immigrants.
"And while that is true -- a lot of us are immigrants, including myself -- it's important to know that we also have taken part in building this country," Dr. Melero said. "If Wisconsin, for example, becomes a state in 1848, and we are already working here in the factories, the farms, at the universities, less than 100 years after it becomes a state."
According to Melero, Wisconsin was founded as a state in 1848 and 36 years later, the first person registered as a Latino of Mexican origins here in Wisconsin.
She added that he was a professor who came from Mexico to teach music at Marquette University.