#TBT: Previously unpublished photos of Selena at Corpus Christi middle school recovered
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The students at Cunningham Middle School went wild for an educational program on Nov. 14, 1994. And who wouldn’t, when the presenter was none other than Selena Quintanilla Pérez?
That day, the sixth, seventh and eighth graders gathered in the cafeteria to see the debut of a video promoting Mexican American music and staying in school called “Selena Agrees.” And when the video had technical issues, the Grammy Award-winning singer got the crowd clapping as she sang a verse from “Amor Prohibido” while the presentation was fixed. Local dignitaries and lawmakers also came out for the event, including Corpus Christi Mayor Mary Rhodes, who declared Nov. 14 Selena Day in the city.
“We're excited that a celebrity of her stature would come to one of our schools,” Corpus Christi ISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra told Caller-Times reporter Diane Richbourg. “Our kids relate to her. She's a local young lady and she's seen as a role model to the kids. (Being here) is our way of showing our support.”
As the 23-year-old entertainer left the school, she clutched a bouquet of red roses presented by eighth grader and student council president Lisa Limon, a wide smile on her face. That image, shot by photographer George Gongora, has become one of the Caller-Times’ most used images of the singer. The following February, Selena would perform in front of a record audience at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in her iconic purple jumpsuit. And at the end of March, she was gone, murdered by the head of her fan club.
More: #TBT: Scenes from 'Selena' filmed around South Texas towns in 1996
A handful of photos from the Cunningham event sat in the Caller-Times' print and digital archives. But there should have been an envelope full of negatives from that event, tucked into a box with other envelopes in mostly chronological order; the 35 mm film would have been processed, cut into strips and placed in archival storage sheets, like the numerous other photos shot over the years. But that particular envelope has been missing for years, likely since the late ‘90s.
While cleaning out some archive storage recently, I began emptying small boxes shoved onto shelves, full of printed emails, dried-up ballpoint pens, rolls of unused film. And in one box buried under the detritus was an envelope, with just the words Selena/Cunningham scrawled in red grease pencil: the negatives.
So here are more of those previously unpublished images from that day, with press interviews, autograph signings and lots of smiles from students, staff and Selena.
Allison Ehrlich writes about things to do in South Texas and has a weekly Throwback Thursday column on local history.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Previously unpublished 1994 photos of Selena Quintanilla recovered
