Our visit to the Selena Museum

My family and I traveled to Corpus Christi in March for a little spring break getaway. Having researched things to do and see, we knew that one of the places we wanted to visit was the Selena Museum. Widely referred to as the “Queen of Tejano Music,” Selena Quintanilla Perez was an up and comer in the recording industry before being tragically murdered at the tender age of 23. 

We aren’t necessarily Selena fans per se, but her murder is one of those stories that is a snapshot in time that you never forget. And to be fair, we admire her work ethic and her rise to success.

The museum is an intimate memorial for Selena fans, showcasing the singer’s awards, concert attire, magazine covers, assorted memorabilia and even her red Porsche, which was considered to be the one and only “splurge” she allowed herself. On the day we arrived, the parking lot was full and we had to park on the street a block or two away. The people flocking to the museum necessitated several police officers to direct traffic. As we neared the building, Hubby asked one of them, “Is it always this crowded?” to which the officer responded, “Only during Spring Break.” That made sense and with March 31 being the 29th anniversary of her murder, numerous fans had made the pilgrimage to pay homage.

Initially, we were a little surprised at how small the museum and accompanying Q Productions studio were, especially considering the volume of people it draws. It wasn’t long, however, before we learned that her family wanted to keep it exactly as it was when she last recorded there. I had heard that her father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., often sits at a desk across from the admission area where you first enter the museum. Sure enough, the day we were there, he sat there quietly watching the crowd, but not interacting with anyone. I can’t help but wonder if seeing the throngs of fans that arrive daily makes him feel closer to his lost daughter, or perhaps – hopefully – provide him some peace. I can only imagine.

Selena ranks among the most influential Latin artists of all time and is widely credited for catapulting the Tejano genre into the mainstream market. Breaking down numerous barriers, she achieved so much before her short life was snuffed out due to greed and jealousy.

The youngest child of her family, she debuted on the music scene as a member of the band Selena y Los Dinos, which also included her elder siblings A.B. Quintanilla and Suzette Quintanilla. In the beginning, she was often criticized and refused bookings for performing Tejano music – a male-dominated music genre. Her popularity grew, however, after she won the Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year in 1987, which she won nine consecutive times. As a solo artist, she recorded five studio albums, with each one further propelling her to stardom.

Her last major performance was before a sold-out crowd at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo on Feb. 26, 1995, in the Astrodome in Houston. A music critic reviewing her last rodeo show crowned the singer “Tejano’s answer to Madonna, Janet Jackson and Gloria Estefan.”

Yolanda Saldivar, a nurse from San Antonio, founded the Selena Fan Club, becoming president and ingratiating herself with Selena and her family, later becoming manager of Selena’s boutiques in San Antonio and Corpus Christi.

When it was revealed that Saldivar had embezzled more than $30,000 through forged checks from both the fan club and the boutiques, Selena requested bank statements and financial records from Saldivar who continued to delay producing them. When Selena met with Saldivar on that fateful day in Saldivar’s motel room at the Corpus Christi Days Inn to demand the return of the items, Saldivar pulled a gun from her purse and shot Selena as she tried to run. The singer ran to the lobby and was able to identify the shooter and give the room number of the room in which she’d been shot before collapsing due to blood loss.

Selena was transported to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital and although valiant attempts were made to save her life, she was pronounced dead from blood loss and cardiac arrest

A Houston jury convicted Saldivar of first-degree murder in October 1995, and she was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years, the maximum prison term allowed in Texas that could be imposed at the time. This means that Saldivar will be eligible for parole next year.