Cinco de Mayo

It seems like all I've done in April is talk about events that happen in May. Why break a trend? Cinco de Mayo is coming up in 10 days, so I thought I'd blog about it. What is this day? What happens? What's the history? How is the library celebrating? Answers to these questions and more to follow.

Cinco de Mayo means the fifth of May or May 5 in the Spanish language. It is a national holiday in Mexico that celebrates the Battle of Puebla fought in May 5 1862. Mexican forces defeated French invaders who attacked the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. Traditionally, parades and other festivities are used to observe the holiday. It is celebrated in some parts of the Unites States, but it is not a national holiday here in the U.S.

Why do we celebrate it here? Because the United States uses any excuse to party! But seriously, many of our citizens have ancestors in Mexico or are from Mexico themselves and they like to uphold traditions.

If you'd like to know more information about this day you can use the library databases, check out some books from the library (I'll list a couple), or take a gander at the following websites.

Books:

Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary
REF 394.26 HOL

Cinco de Mayo: Day of Mexican Pride
JUV 394.262 DOE

Website:

The History Channel Presents Cinco de Mayo
~ an exploration of the history of Mexico and Cinco de Mayo.

State-wide Menudo Cookoff
~ Learn how some celebrate and about the history

PGSCA Cinco de Mayo Festival
~ See how some celebrate

If you want to come and celebrate with the library, check out the cool teen event on the library's calendar.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

If you’re a fan of the History Channel you’re probably accustomed to seeing documentaries on the Holocaust, Nazis, and Jewish culture playing in April. This is because Holocaust Remembrance Day normally falls in April. This year it’s on May 1, but I figured an explanation behind the day and some links about the Holocaust wouldn’t be remiss.

According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Holocaust Remembrance Day is a day that has been set aside for remembering the victims of the Holocaust and for reminding Americans of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred and indifference reign.” If you want to know more about the day and future dates, click here

There are some really amazing online resources about the holocaust. I’m going to list a few here.

USHMM Web Links
~ The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provides a listing of categorized websites that are great for research and learning about the time period.

Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State
~This website is about the documentary that you can watch on PBS. The documentary is very good and the website takes you through the history. It’s good for those who haven’t gotten a chance to see it.

Holocaust on Trial
~ This deals with the Holocaust denial phenomenon and is the companion to the PBS documentary.

There is also some great books and movies available at the library in the 940.53 section, along with some encyclopedias of that time available in reference. If you’re interested, go check it out. We should never become blind to the past, especially when it contains horrors such as these.