Olivia Cadaval is remembered as a friend and mentor to generations of D.C. Latine culture makers
(screenshot from a video produced by Paula Góngora Salazar)
These days, José Centeno-Meléndez often thinks fondly of his late mentor, Olivia Cadaval, an activist, mentor and scholar of D.C.’s Latine community who touched the lives of generations of people who gathered to exchange stories and ideas at her house in the District’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood.
“My favorite moments with Olivia were at her home, or what was commonly known as La Orilla (The Edge). She would invite me (and many of her mentees in general) to La Orilla pretty often to break bread and share countless stories about the history of D.C.’s diverse Latine community,” Centeno-Meléndez, local Latine historian and cultural worker, told Hola Cultura in an email.
As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, observed from Sep. 15-Oct. 15, we honor Cadaval, who passed away on April 8, 2025. Through decades of work in D.C.’s Latine cultural community, she made her mark as an active and prominent member of the community. Centeno-Meléndez says that those moments shared with Cadaval prompted meaningful thoughts about their experiences in D.C.
“These conversations were opportunities for us to make shared meaning about our individual and familial experiences in D.C. Despite having spent decades documenting the history of our community, Olivia approached each of our conversations with so much warmth and curiosity,” Centeno-Meléndez says.
Raised in Mexico City, after coming to the United States in 1961, Cadaval studied at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL. She moved to Washington, D.C. in the late 1960s. In D.C., she worked as a cultural liaison for the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival and completed her doctorate in Folklife and American Studies at George Washington University in 1988.
Folklife is defined as “the traditions, activities, skills, and products (such as handicrafts) of a particular people or group,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Cadaval later became a curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, as well as its chair of cultural research and education. The Center stands as a research and education hub that promotes the understanding and preservation of cultural history.
During her time at the Smithsonian, Cadaval’s research specialties included Latin American and Latino studies, American cultural history, material culture and folklife. While there, she continued her activism for Washington’s Latine community through art-centered projects, publishing and mentorship.
She also spent time leading “El Centro De Arte,” a space once dedicated to Latine community art in D.C., the now-defunct institution that offered classes and exhibitions. Its motto was “Art is culture, Art is education, Art is the conscience of the people.”
In 1982, in partnership with the Latin American Youth Center, El Centro De Arte was responsible for the painting of the Unity Mural, located on a Pepco substation in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. This mural, which is set to be demolished by Pepco any day now, has just won national recognition as an endangered Latine landmark.
Notably, in an interview with Hola Cultura in 2013, Cadaval said her deep involvement with the Latine community contributed to the use of the term “Latino” in place of terms such as “Latin American” or “Hispanic” when referring to the Latine community.
“It gave people a sense of belonging, of solidarity,” Cadaval said in the interview. “That’s why “Latino” is going to last longer, and maybe it’s going to transform the country. It’s not this linear, homogenous way of forcing everyone into the same mold.”
Cadaval is remembered dearly by many. In an article by Betty Belanus for Round Barn Press, Belanus spoke about her time working alongside Cadaval at the Smithsonian when they were research fellows.
“All of us who knew and loved Olivia will sorely miss her,” Belanus said, “but we will be sharing our experiences and our favorite funny and poignant stories about her for the rest of our days, keeping her memory alive.”
— Story by Sofia Cortés
— Copy edited by Kami Waller
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I’m very glad to see this tribute to Olivia and her lifelong cultural work that benefited so many people. I noticed that Ubaldo Sánchez and Yolanda Alcorta are in the photo with her. There are also two individuals in the picture that I don’t believe I’ve met.