"What White Nonsense is this?" Investigating the Seldom Seen or Heard Stories of Latinxs in the National Register of Historic Places

Abstract

I am studying the master narrative of the United States told through the National Register. I want to understand how the National Register presents the place of Latinxs in our national story and what factors have led to that representation. The evidence presented in my theses shows that the National Register is inherently unsuited to recognize the historical contributions of this recently formed, forcibly displaced, and vastly understudied community of Latinxs in the DMV. The National Register was built on premises that disregarded the historical contributions of non-white communities. This biased foundation of preservation principles has resulted in a Eurocentric representation of Latinxs, meaning that the historical significance of this demographic is often tied in some way to the architecture, actions, or people of Spain. I prove that the National Register's criteria and criteria considerations make it impossible for the DMV's Latinx community to fit in the National Register's exclusionary definitions of historical significance.