My Story Museum

My Story Museum is a small museum in Crystal City, Zavala County, opened in November 2024 by people who lived the events it shows. Diana Palacios, a student leader in the 1969 protest and later city manager, was its originator. Its three exhibits cover the Chicano movement in Zavala County, the Department of Justice family internment camp of 1942 to 1948, and the county's veterans.

The political story is the town's best known. Mexican Americans were at least four in five residents, but Anglos ran city hall and the schools. In 1963 five Mexican American candidates, known as los cinco and backed by Teamsters and the PASSO voter drive, beat five incumbents for city council, the first such victory since the city incorporated in 1910. In 1967 José Ángel Gutiérrez co-founded the Mexican American Youth Organization. In December 1969 about 200 students walked out over discrimination; the Justice Department brokered a settlement that included bilingual education. In January 1970 the new Raza Unida Party won seats on the school board and city council and dominated Crystal City politics until it split in 1977.

The camp exhibit is a photographic display compiled by Hector Estrada, expanded in October 2025 by the Crystal City Pilgrimage Committee, which holds pilgrimages for Japanese Latin American and Japanese American survivors. Admission is free, Monday to Saturday, 10 to 4, per the museum. The camp site itself is a short drive away.