How Google Search is helping people connect to their Hispanic heritage

Joanna Diaz grew up in Philadelphia, but her family has roots in Puerto Rico.

Like many other Hispanic Americans, she wanted to know more about this side of her family story.

β€œIt's important to remember the struggles before you and what our ancestors went through...”

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In an effort to reconnect with her roots, she used Google Search to find out more...

...and discovered her origins: family who had come to Puerto Rico from Corsica.

Sharing the news with the other Diaz women has inspired them...

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...to further trace, discover, and celebrate the Diaz lineage using Google Earth.

But tracing Hispanic heritage is about more than learning about who your ancestors were...

...it's also a way to celebrate who you are.

Lenny Trujillo had also wondered about his family's past.

So he used Google Search to research his ancestors – pioneers that traveled from New Mexico to California.

His great-great-great grandfather and his wife and seven children traveled over 1,000 miles...

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...and were amongst the first non-indigenous settlers to the area.

Inspired by his discovery, Lenny created a sunburst with eight extended arms – a one-of-a-kind memorial commemorating his family's momentous journey.

The sunburst is now the Trujillo family icon, helping Lenny honor his heritage every day.

Here's to everyone bringing their past into their present.

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