Encyclopedia of Latinos & Latinas in the United States

Four deluxe volumes — a landmark scholarly work on the fastest-growing population in the nation, with more than 900 articles by leading scholars.

About the Encyclopedia

This landmark scholarly work, published by a major university press, offers comprehensive, reliable, and accessible information about Latinos and Latinas in the United States. With unprecedented scope and cutting-edge scholarship, it draws together the diverse historical and contemporary experiences of communities tracing their roots to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

More than 900 A-to-Z articles written by academics, scholars, writers, artists, and journalists address broad topics including identity, art, politics, religion, education, health, and history. Topical entries range from banda music and machismo to quinceañeras and Spanish Harlem, and more than 200 biographies profile notable Latinos and Latinas. The encyclopedia fills a long-standing void in the historical scholarship of an underserved population, illustrated with more than 400 photographs, tables, charts, and maps.

Critical Reception

The encyclopedia earned starred reviews from major library journals and was named a best reference work by several national library institutions in the years following its publication, including recognition from the New York Public Library and an honorable mention for the national medal recognizing outstanding reference works. For school and public librarians, that pedigree matters: it signals a set vetted by the reviewing apparatus librarians trust.

The Editors

The encyclopedia was edited by Suzanne Oboler, founding editor of the international academic journal Latino Studies and professor of Latin American and Latino studies, and Deena J. González, professor and chair of Chicana/o studies at a California university and a pioneering historian of the Spanish-speaking Southwest.

In the Classroom and Library

Where the Reference Library of Hispanic America provides the narrative survey, this encyclopedia provides scholarly depth: a student writing on Spanish-language media, farmworker movements, or Caribbean migration will find signed articles with bibliographies here. Pair it with the free digital resources of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino and the Hispanic Heritage Month portal for exhibits, oral histories, and primary documents.

Reading Pathways

An A-to-Z encyclopedia invites random access, but three structured routes serve researchers especially well. The survey route reads the long synthetic articles first — identity, history, education, politics — for the field's big arguments, then drills into specific entries. The biography route uses the 200-plus biographical entries as a starting roster for research projects, with each entry's bibliography pointing to fuller treatments. The culture route samples the encyclopedia's distinctive topical entries — from banda and quinceañeras to Spanish Harlem — that rarely receive scholarly treatment elsewhere, ideal for student-choice assignments.

Because the articles are signed and sourced, the encyclopedia also works as an introduction to academic writing: students can trace a claim from entry to bibliography to journal, practicing the scholarship-evaluation skills that distinguish reference research from search-engine browsing.

Reference Details

Format

4 deluxe hardcover volumes; appendix, bibliography, glossary, index

Length

Approximately 2,344 pages; 400+ photographs, tables, charts, and maps

Editors

Suzanne Oboler and Deena J. González

ISBN

0-19-515600-5 (0195156005)

Reading level

High school and up; strong undergraduate reference

To find this set in a library near you, search WorldCat by title or ISBN. See also the rest of the series guide or the complete 31-volume collection.