Dr. Opal Lee Turned 100 As Fort Worth Breaks Ground On National Juneteenth Museum – Local Profile

Dr. Opal Lee Turned 100 As Fort Worth Breaks Ground On National Juneteenth Museum  Local Profile

For Dr. Opal Lee, the road to Juneteenth recognition has been measured in miles. For years, the Fort Worth educator and activist walked more than two and a half miles at a time, often in cities across the country, carrying a simple message about freedom and the long-delayed news that reached enslaved Texans in 1865. On Oct. 7, the woman widely known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” celebrated another milestone: her 100th birthday. And on the same day, work began on a project that could become one of her most lasting legacies. Friends, Fort Worth leaders and community members gathered near the Southside Community Center to celebrate Lee’s birthday as demolition began at the site that will become the National Juneteenth Museum.

The $70 million museum is expected to open in 2027 and will honor the history Lee spent decades bringing to the national stage. Lee was a child in Marshall, Texas, when she experienced her first Juneteenth celebration. She remembers the occasion as a full community event, with music, food, speeches and ball games at the fairgrounds. “It was just like Christmas,” Lee told Local Profile in 2022. When her family moved to Fort Worth when she was about 10, Juneteenth celebrations looked different. The backyard gatherings she encountered in her new hometown could not quite compete with the