Camilla Cabello performs for her ‘Never Be The Same Tour’ live at The Fillmore Detroit on April 25, 2018.
Credit: © Brandon Nagy, Shutterstock

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, many Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

The latest princess to go from rags to riches in Cinderella (2021) is the Cuban American singer and songwriter Camila Cabello. Cabello creates pop music influenced by her Cuban and Mexican heritage. Cabello became known while she was a part of the all-female pop group Fifth Harmony. She now writes and performs her own songs, often addressing the immigrant experience in the United States.

Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao was born March 3, 1997, in Havana, Cuba. Her mother was a Cuban architect and her father worked a number of jobs, including construction while living in Mexico City, Mexico. Cabello and her mother traveled back and forth between Cuba and Mexico before moving to Miami, Florida. Her father later immigrated to the United States to join them. Cabello was shy growing up. She surprised her parents when she asked to audition for the television reality music competition program “The X Factor” in 2012.

Cabello auditioned in Greensboro, North Carolina for “The X Factor” and was listed as an alternate. She asked for another audition and then made it to the next round, which was a pre-season boot camp (intensive training session). At the boot camp in Miami, producers of the show grouped her with four other contestants: (1) Ally Brooke Hernandez, (2) Dinah Jane Hansen, (3) Lauren Jauregui, and (4) Normani Kordei. Later in the season, they formed Fifth Harmony. The group placed third on the show and landed record deals with its creator, the British record executive Simon Cowell, and Epic Records.

Fifth Harmony released its first EP Better Together in 2013 and its first album Reflection in 2015. EP stands for extended play and is a type of musical recording that includes several songs but is not considered a full-length album. Fifth Harmony’s “All in My Head (Flex),” featuring the American rapper Fetty Wap, was voted the song of the summer at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Outside the group, Cabello began working with other artists such as the Canadian singer and songwriter Shawn Mendes and the American rapper Machine Gun Kelly. In 2016, Fifth Harmony announced via Twitter that Cabello was no longer in the group.

Cabello’s first single as a solo artist, “Havana,” featuring the American rapper Young Thug, was released in 2017. The single held the number one spot on Billboard magazine’s “US Pop Singles” chart for seven weeks. Cabello headlined for Bruno Mars on his 24k Magic Tour in 2017 and Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium tour in 2018. Cabello released her first solo album, Camila, in 2018. It reached number one on the “Billboard 200” chart. She later released the album Romance in 2019.

Cabello won MTV’s video of the year award in 2018 for “Havana” and in 2019 for “Senorita,” with Shawn Mendes. She also won the MTV Europe Music Awards for best song and best video with “Havana.” She received a Grammy nomination in 2019 for best pop solo performance for “Havana” and best pop vocal album for Camila. She received a nomination for best pop duo/group performance for “Senorita.”

October 15, 2018

From 1892 to 1924, over 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island, a reception center in New York Harbor. Many Americans today can trace their family roots to Ellis Island, where people disembarked from ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Immigrants began the sometimes difficult process of becoming American citizens at Ellis Island, which sits a short distance from Liberty Island, the home of the Statue of Liberty.

Millions of European immigrants streamed into the United States during the 1800′s and early 1900′s. The newcomers shown here landed at Ellis Island in New York Harbor in 1907. Credit: © Burt G. Phillips, Museum of the City of New York/Getty Images

Ellis Island is named for Samuel Ellis, a merchant and farmer who owned it during the late 1700′s. The U.S. government bought the island in 1808 and began using it as an immigration station in 1892. About 35 buildings were constructed on the island. Newcomers were taken to the main building, an impressive two-story wooden structure. That building burned down in 1897 and was replaced by a three-story brick building. The immigrants were questioned by government officials and examined by doctors. Certain people were prohibited by federal law from immigrating to the United States. They included criminals, the insane, and people who had infectious diseases. But about 98 percent of those examined at Ellis Island were allowed into the country.

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This map shows the location of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in Upper New York Bay. The monument includes the statue on Liberty Island and the Ellis Island immigration station. Liberty Island is officially under the jurisdiction of New York. Most of Ellis Island is under New Jersey’s jurisdiction. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The island’s large-scale use as an immigration station ended in 1924. The station closed completely in 1954. In 1965, the island became a national historic site, part of the existing Statue of Liberty National Monument. The site is managed and operated by the federal government’s National Park Service.

The National Park Service began major repairs of the island’s buildings in the 1980′s. The island was reopened to the public in 1990. The main building was completely restored and is now the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. The museum’s exhibits include old photographs, clothing, toys, and passports of immigrants. Visitors can listen to recordings of immigrants sharing their memories of Ellis Island. Several rooms, including the Registry Room or Great Hall (main reception area), now appear as they did between 1918 and 1924, the island’s busiest years as an immigration station. The American Immigrant Wall of Honor, created in 1990, stands outside the museum. The names of hundreds of thousands of immigrants are engraved on this wall in honor of all immigrants.

A number of famous people began their new American lives at Ellis Island, including composer Irving Berlin (he came with his family from Russia in 1893), football coach Knute Rockne (from Norway, in 1893), film directors Frank Capra (from Italy, in 1903) and Elia Kazan (from Turkey, in 1913), and entertainer Bob Hope (from England, in 1908).