Whitehead museum preserves Val Verde County voices through oral histories

Whitehead Memorial Museum is collecting oral histories from Del Rio and Val Verde County now, before first-person history slips away. Its oral history project is built to gather local voices, preserve them, and put the finished collection back into public view through the museum.

Why this oral history work matters now

The museum’s project is not limited to famous names or big events. It is designed to collect and compile oral histories from citizens of Del Rio and Val Verde County, Texas, with room for the details that rarely survive in official records: neighborhood life, family businesses, schools, ranching routines, military connections, river stories, borderland change, and the everyday traditions that shaped local identity.

Counties are often remembered through documents, buildings, and dates, while families remember how a place actually felt. Oral histories can capture who lived where, how people crossed the river, what storefronts looked like before they changed, and how residents adapted to droughts, floods, and economic shifts. For families, those recordings can become part of their own record; for schools, they can supply local material that makes Del Rio history concrete instead of abstract.

How the project is set up

The museum is collecting interviews in a structured way, with consent, so the stories can be preserved and shared appropriately. The release form states that the interview is part of a project seeking to collect and compile oral histories from citizens of Del Rio and Val Verde County, Texas, and that the final products will be made available to the public through Whitehead Memorial Museum.

The museum’s “What’s Your Story” oral history page turns individual memory into a resource that can be used by descendants, teachers, students, genealogists, and anyone trying to understand how Val Verde County has changed over time. It also gives residents a place to contribute stories while those memories are still available in the first person.

What kinds of voices belong in the archive

The project is broad enough to hold the kinds of recollections that usually get lost first. A resident who remembers a downtown business before it closed, a longtime family that can trace how a neighborhood changed, a ranching family with stories about work on the land, or someone who remembers the mood of the city during a flood all have material that can deepen the public record.

The same is true for stories tied to schools, church life, river crossings, military influence, and community gatherings. Those accounts help show how Del Rio developed as a border community and how daily life was shaped by both change and continuity.

Where the museum is and how it presents itself

Its 2020 brochure calls Whitehead Memorial Museum “A Small Frontier Village in the Middle of Del Rio, Texas.” The brochure places the museum at 1308 South Main Street, Del Rio, Texas 78840, and lists the phone number as (830) 774-7568 and the email address Info@WhiteheadMuseum.org.

Its exhibits are spread throughout several buildings, each of historical significance in itself. It also participates in Living History Days.

Why the museum has earned the role of keeper

In 1962, a noted local ranching family, the Whiteheads, purchased the old Perry Mercantile Building and donated it to the City of Del Rio and Val Verde County.

John Perry built the store in 1870, and it was the first store in Del Rio. It is a Registered Historical Landmark and was the largest mercantile store between San Antonio and El Paso.

Michael Diaz and the museum’s storytelling mission

The museum’s oral history effort also connects to the work of director Michael Diaz. In a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi South Texas Stories interview conducted by Hannah Hudak over video conference on September 27, 2022, Diaz discussed his childhood and the path that led him to become museum director.

Diaz has created numerous exhibits showcasing the history of Val Verde County, including an exhibit on the Del Rio Flood of 1990.