Opal Lee’s Journey for Juneteenth Recognition
A retired Texas teacher, Opal Lee, who walked halfway across the country in her fight for Juneteenth to be recognized as a national holiday is receiving another reason to celebrate.
In 2016, at the age of 89, Opal Lee embarked on an inspiring journey from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, all the way to Washington, D.C., logging 2.5 miles a day. This effort honored the two and a half years Black Texans had to wait for news of the Emancipation Proclamation.
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“Knowing that slaves didn’t get the word for two and a half years after the emancipation, can’t you imagine how those people felt?” Lee expressed in a Q & A with The New York Times last year.
In a significant milestone, Lee stood by President Joe Biden when he officially recognized Juneteenth as a national holiday. Furthermore, the community museum she has dedicated herself to for over twenty years will soon become the National Juneteenth Museum, commemorating the abolition of slavery in the United States.
Excitement for the National Juneteenth Museum
“To have lived long enough to see my walking and talking make an impact is one thing, but to know that a state-of-the-art museum housing the actual pen President Biden used to sign the bill, along with many other exhibits, is coming to pass — I could do my holy dance again,” Lee stated in a remark shared by Fort Worth city officials.
The forthcoming museum will be situated on Rosedale Street in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside neighborhood, on the exact spot where Lee’s community museum has existed.
“Oh I’m ecstatic,” Lee shared with NBC. “This new museum is going to be the talk of the town. Not just the town, the whole cotton-picking state. You wait and see.”
Lee is recognized as the oldest-living board member of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation and is often dubbed the Grandmother of Juneteenth due to her unwavering efforts for the acknowledgment of the day when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston at the Gulf of Mexico.
Consequently, construction on the National Juneteenth Museum is slated to commence in spring 2022, with an anticipated opening date in 2023, as reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
