Cinco de Mayo, the celebration of Mexico's victory over invading French troops in 1862, is an important observance because it has reflected the changes and developments in Latino communities throughout California for the past 145 years and because it was invented in California, according to a paper recently published by the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

"Cinco de Mayo is important to California because it was invented here," said David E. Hayes-Bautista, director of the center and the paper's lead author. "It provides a collective identity for all Latinos, whether they were born here in California or immigrated from Mexico, Central America or South America. It binds them together in an identity - it is as important to Latinos as the Alamo is to Anglo-Texans."

The paper by Hayes-Bautista and co-author Cynthia L. Chamberlin, the center's historian, appears in the spring edition of the Southern California Quarterly and is titled "Cinco de Mayo's First Seventy-Five Years in Alta California: From Spontaneous Behavior to Sedimented Memory, 1862 to 1937."

The holiday commemorates the victory of Mexican troops over the invading French at the first Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The second Battle of Puebla, fought one year after the first, was a rematch between Mexican and French troops that lasted more than two months. A desire to support Mexican President Benito Juárez and the Mexican troops galvanized Latinos in California and produced a collective response that drew together Californios, Mexican immigrants, Central and South American immigrants, and their English-speaking children born in California. The first celebrations of the original Battle of Puebla were begun in 1863 in California.

Puebla eventually fell to the French after a two-month siege, but its struggle became a symbol of heroic resistance for Latinos in California.
The holiday, which has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863, is virtually ignored in Mexico. Cinco de Mayo festivals here are characterized by parades, patriotic speeches and picnics, along with the prominent display of both the Mexican and U.S. flags.

"Cinco de Mayo has been celebrated every year from 1863 until now, but today, the history has been lost," Hayes-Bautista said. "We remember it is important, but we don't remember why. We wanted to bring back the history about why the celebration began."

Merry Ovnick, editor of the Southern California Quarterly, which published the paper, said, "The journal's focus is the history of Southern California, the state as a whole and the American West. This paper is a valuable contribution to our readers' understanding of the significance of Cinco de Mayo to Latinos and to all Californians."

About the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture
Since 1992, the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture has been a resource for cutting-edge research, education and public information about Latinos, their health and their role in California. Under the leadership of Hayes-Bautista, the center, part of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been the lead institution exploding myths and stereotypes about Latinos in California society, providing reliable data on Latino health, emphasizing the positive contributions of Latinos to the state's economy and society, and informing the public about the important emerging Latino medical market.

About UCLA
UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of nearly 37,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer more than 300 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Four alumni and five faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

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