"An
Early Portrait of the Rich Hispanic Diversity of Pensacola, Florida,
the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Region: The King of
Pensacola."
By David Perez
One can scarcely distinguish today's
descendants of the colonial
Spanish settlers of the Gulf coast from the descendants
of other
immigrants such as the English, Irish, Scottish and Greek. The
offspring of the early Spaniards have been thoroughly Americanized.
They all speak English, many are
protestant, and few know Spanish or
identify with Spanish culture. Most, however, are proud to
be able to
trace their lineage to those Spaniards who arrived on the Gulf coast
during the colonial era. In particular, the name of one of
those
early
Spanish immigrants stands out in Gulf coast history.
Many
present-day residents of Pensacola and other Gulf coast cities are the
direct descendants of
Francisco Moreno of
Malaga, Spain. Published on the website, LatinoLA:
September 27, 2008. To read the whole article, go here: http://latinola.com/story.php?story=6819
Bernardo de
Gálvez.
"Bernardo de
Gálvez's Combat Diary for the
Battle of Pensacola, 1781." Edited by Maury Baker and Margaret Bissler
Haas. Florida Historical Quarterly, 56 (October 1977), pp. 176-199.
Contemporary
Hispanic-Americans.
- Franklin
Ramón Chang-Díaz (born 5 April
1950) is a Costa Rican-American physicist and former NASA astronaut. He
is a veteran of seven space shuttle missions, making him the record
holder for most spaceflights by an astronaut (a record he shares with
Jerry L. Ross). He is one of the first American citizens of Latin
American descent to go into space.
- Manuel
Elkin Patarroyo (born November 3, 1946) is a Colombian
pathologist who developed the world's first synthetic vaccine for
malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes that affects millions of
people in the Third World every year. The vaccine was evaluated in
clinical trials carried out by the WHO in Gambia, Tanzania and
Thailand, and had mixed results. However, the vaccine has been proved
effective at around 30 percent of the times and could save an estimated
1 million lives out of an annual death toll of 3 million; which is the
most effective vaccine against malaria to this day.
- Mario
Molina (born Mexico City,1943), along with Sherwood
Rowland and Paul Crutzen, have all made pioneering contributions to
explaining how ozone is formed and decomposes through chemical
processes in the atmosphere. Most importantly, they have in this way
showed how sensitive the ozone layer is to the influence of
anthropogenic emissions of certain compounds. The thin ozone layer has
proved to be an Achilles heel that may be seriously injured by
apparently moderate changes in the composition of the atmosphere. By
explaining the chemical mechanisms that affect the thickness of the
ozone layer, the three researchers have contributed to our salvation
from a global environmental problem that could have catastrophic
consequences.
- Ellen
Lauri Ochoa (born May 10, 1958) is a former astronaut
and current director of flight crew operations for the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. After STS-120 she will take over
as Deputy Director of the Johnson Space Center.
Baker
Block Museum Educational Services. Baker, FL. (850) 537-5714