The Rafael del Pino Foundation co-sponsored the exhibition and publication of the work "El hilo de la memoria. Three hundred years of Spanish presence in the United States" organised by Acción Cultural Española (ACE). The aim of this exhibition was to disseminate documentary collections held by the General Archive of the Indies on the lands of the south and west of the United States, in order to make American citizens aware of a part of their history that generally goes unnoticed by them due to the preponderance of the Anglo-Saxon perspective on it.
The exhibition has shown the influence and extent of Spain's colonial heritage in that country and the support given to the struggle for independence from the British crown, declared in 1776 and ratified in 1783.
The first edition of the exhibition was held at the Palace of Governors of the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, between October 2010 and January 2011. The second edition was held at the El Paso Museum of Art, in El Paso (Texas), in February and March. During the months of May, June and July 2011, the exhibition was held at The Historic New Orleans Collection, in New Orleans (Louisiana).