This 96-Year-Old Activist Helped Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

Colin McEvoy
·5 min read
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opal lee, wearing a denim designed coat, yellow shirt, and sunglasses, speaks at a podium with two microphones and the us presidential seal, standing next to a laughing kamala harris
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For decades, Opal Lee campaigned to make Juneteenth a national holiday. She never doubted it would happen one day, but she was determined to see it occur during her lifetime.

In 2021, she got her wish when President Joe Biden signed a bill declaring June 19 a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. It happened in no small part due to Lee’s efforts, earning her the nickname “The Grandmother of Juneteenth,” as well as a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize this past year, which she ultimately didn’t win.

Now 96, Lee captured the world’s attention during a series of symbolic walks from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, to the U.S. capital, beginning in late 2016, to advocate for the national holiday. She also spearheaded an online petition that she hoped would draw 100,000 signatures. It ended up with 1.6 million.

“I just remember thinking, ‘Gee, I’m 89 years old, and I think that there’s lots more that needs to be done,’” Lee said of her famous walks, which generated national news coverage and support from celebrities such as Usher, Pharrell Williams, and Lupita Nyong’o.

Lee’s passion for Juneteenth is rooted in her appreciation for its history and her own personal experiences, both of which have left a lasting impact that’s fueled her activism.

A Personal Connection to Juneteenth

Lee was born in Marshall, Texas, in 1926, the eldest of three children. Her family moved to Fort Worth when she was 10, and two years later, she watched as 500 white rioters burned down her home, angry at the family for moving into a predominantly white neighborhood.

“The people didn’t want us,” Lee said. “They started gathering. The paper said the police couldn’t control the mob. My father came with a gun, and police told them if he busted a cap, they’d let the mob have us. They started throwing things at the house, and when they left, they took out the furniture and burned it and burned the house.”

The fire took place on Juneteenth—June 19, 1939—and the significance of the date wasn’t lost on Lee. “The fact that it happened on the 19th day of June has spurred me to make people understand that Juneteenth is not just a festival,” she said.

After a career as an educator and home school counselor, Lee retired in 1976 and became active in community causes in the Fort Worth area, organizing the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration and co-founding the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society.

Making Juneteenth a national holiday was never far from Lee’s mind, and she started an annual tradition of walking 2.5 miles, representing the two-and-a-half years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to reach the state of Texas. “I was thinking that surely, somebody would see a little old lady in tennis shoes trying to get to Congress and notice,” Lee told NPR.

Recounting her first walk, Lee said: “I gathered some people at my church—my pastor, the church musicians, a county commissioner, a school board member; not acres of people but a few—and we had a little ceremony. I walked from the church, 2.5 miles, went home, and the next day I started where I left off.”

A National Movement Blossoms

opal lee, wearing a white outfit, talks to a seated joe biden, who places his hands on hers, among a crowd of listening people, including kamala harris
Opal Lee was present on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth a national holiday into law.Getty Images

From September 2016 to January 2017, Lee traveled the country from Fort Worth to Washington, stopping in dozens of cities along the way for symbolic 2.5 mile walks to draw attention to her cause. She clarified to Variety that she didn’t walk every single mile from Texas to the nation’s capital: “I did some hundreds of them but not 1,400.”

Her efforts inspired celebrities to amplify her activism. In a series of tweets, actor Lupita Nyong’o wrote in 2020: “Recognizing Juneteenth nationally would be one more way to acknowledge the intrinsic value of Black people and their history to the wealth and prosperity of the USA.” She then encouraged her followers to sign Lee’s petition.

Lee believes protests against systemic racism in response to the police killings of unarmed Black men like George Floyd in May 2020 helped bring more attention and garner support for the effort to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

“I think it was, ‘Enough is enough,’” Lee said. “I think losing that man’s life just pushed us over the edge. We’ve put up with so much. When I think about what our ancestors had to put up with before the Emancipation—before that General Order No. 3 was declared down in Galveston—the situations aren’t that far different.”

Lee was present on June 17, 2021, when President Biden signed the bill into law that made Juneteenth a national holiday. Afterward, he gave her one of the pens used during the ceremony and got down on one knee to thank her and whisper to her as the gathered crowd applauded.

“We’re blessed to mark the day in the presence of Ms. Opal Lee. As my mother would say, ‘God love her,’” Biden said during the ceremony. “Ms. Opal, you’re incredible. A daughter of Texas, grandmother of the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.”

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