Opal Lee, ‘grandmother of Juneteenth,’ spends 100th birthday at the center of celebrations in Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Opal Lee, the lifelong Texan and a driving force in making Juneteenth a federal holiday, spent her 100th birthday on Wednesday at the center of celebrations in her hometown that included a scheduled visit by former first lady Michelle Obama.

Lee was on hand for construction crews to break ground in Fort Worth on a museum dedicated to telling the history of Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. The planned 50,000-square-foot (4,600-square-meter) National Juneteenth Museum, located in a historically Black neighborhood, is projected to open in 2029.

Wearing a flower lei and surrounded by family and friends, Lee expressed her happiness and gratitude after the announcement of a $3 million donation by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I’m so happy I could do a holy dance, and these old legs won’t respond, but let me tell you how thankful I am and that this deed won’t go unnoticed,” Lee said.

Later Wednesday, Obama was expected to join museum leaders for an event honoring Lee, who is widely known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth.”

When then-President Joe Biden in 2021 signed a bill into law making Juneteenth a federal holiday, Lee was by his side.

The holiday marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston at the end of the Civil War with an order declaring the freedom of the enslaved people in Texas. It was about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed the enslaved people in the still rebellious states of the Confederacy. Six months later, the ratification of the 13th Amendment permanently ended slavery in the United States.

Lee has been a force in Fort Worth, where she worked for decades as a teacher, counselor and community activist.

She has said she has cherished childhood memories of celebrating Juneteenth with food, music and games, and as an adult, she was involved in planning the celebration in Fort Worth.

“Long before there were historic walks, cameras, books and well-deserved national acclaim, my childhood memories are filled with you making sure that Fort Worth remembered,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee H. Toliver said at the event.

She told Lee that she remembered her planning community events, parades and festivals.

“You always reminded us that history is not something you leave behind, it’s something you actively protect,” Toliver said.

The future site of the museum is not far from the home that was built for Lee a couple of years ago on the same tree-lined corner lot that her family had been driven from by a racist mob when she was a young girl.

Lee was 12 when, on Juneteenth in 1939, a white mob of hundreds descended on her Black family’s home, days after they moved into a white neighborhood. The mob smashed windows and furniture, according to newspaper reports from the time.

Jarred Howard, the museum’s CEO, was among those who honored Lee on Wednesday.

“It was important for us to do this on this date because everything we’ve done for the last several years, everything we continue to do, is built around the spirit of the venerable Miss Opal Lee,” he said.