York Town Square

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Latino/Hispanic history Archives

York County’s Delma Rivera-Lytle is seen with her aunt and uncle, Juan and Doris Román. Juan Román became the first U.S. victim of Lassa fever when he died visiting the Rivera in York County, Pa., in 1969. Lassa is a distant cousin of Ebola.

Dr. Edwin A. and Delma Rivera arrived in York, Pa., in 1962, as a pioneering Hispanic physician family. The couple saw the need for services – interpreters, housing, employment – for Hispanics in York. The York Spanish American Center emerged to address those needs.