Latinos have left an indelible mark on the history of the United States and it is time to “tell their history well” and honor their legacy, Midy Aponte, the interim director of the American Latino Heritage Fund, said Tuesday.

Eva Longoria and a San Francisco art museum chief are two of the key figures in the bid to establish a new museum on the Mall devoted to the history and culture of American Latinos but they may be running into an uphill battle.

In what one online genealogy firm say is an extraordinary trove of data for American families of Latino descent, the complete 1930 Mexican census is being distributed publicly for the first time.

From rumba to mambo to cha-cha-cha, Latin music rhythms played an important role in the development of rock-and-roll music, strongly influencing songs like Rock Around the Clock and Tequila. “I would consider rock-and-roll music a Latin genre because there are so many Latin connections to it and Latin music was part of it from the very beginning, ” said Dr. Roberto Avant-Mier an associate professor at the University of Texas at El Paso.