Originally founded in 1973 under the name, "Revista Chicano- Riqueña," the journal changed its name to The America's Review seeking to acknowledge the increasingly diverse makeup of Latino people in the United States.

In 1997, Dew on the Thorn, one of the few recovered works authored by folklorist, historian, writer, and teacher Jovita González de Mireles (1904–1983) was published posthumously by Arte Público's Recovery Project, six decades after it was penned.

Dr. Nicolás Kanellos alongside Dr. Luis Davila founded Revista Chicano- Riqueña while in Indiana to offer a forum for Latinos throughout the United States to publish their literary works and art in 1973. More focused on anthologies, the journal was the seed that would later be renamed The America's Review and lead to the founding of Arte Público Press in 1979.