What a Week! Grandmother of Juneteenth Opal Lee Celebrates New Home

What a wonderful week it’s been for Opal Lee, the Fort Worth icon known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth.”

For the Fort Worth activist, today’s Juneteenth celebration will begin with a 2.5-mile walk from the African American Museum of Dallas. The annual Opal’s Walk for Freedom, launched in 2016, helped establish Juneteenth — a term invented to combine both June and 19 — as a national holiday. Then in 2021, President Joe Biden signed a law making Juneteenth a federal holiday, marking the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.

Opal Lee, The Grandmother of Juneteenth, Will Get Her Family Home Back

So even as the 97-year-old Lee walks the streets of Dallas Wednesday morning with loyal supporters, she has even more to celebrate. Last week, the nationally known advocate for civil liberties got handed the key to her new Fort Worth home.

A New Home For Opal Lee

On Friday, Lee held court from a white rocking chair on the front porch of her new Annie Street home. She welcomed dignitaries, construction workers, neighbors, volunteers, and reporters before getting a tour of the one-story’s interior. Even before she toured her new home, she was a happy woman.

“Just know I love every one of you,” she said, wearing a yellow blouse as bright as the Fort Worth sun. As she rocked in the white rocker with both temperatures and humidity high, Lee’s excitement was evident. “I could do a holy dance,” she said.

Replacing the Nightmare

The home stands in the exact location where Lee’s family once lived, before being driven away by an angry mob. On June 19, 1939, hundreds of white rioters chased the family from the home they’d lived in for only four days. Lee was 12 years old at the time, and her younger brothers were 10 and 8.

The frightful story was recounted last week by Lee’s granddaughter, Magistrate Judge Renee Toliver. The judge spoke at length of her ancestors’ nightmarish evacuation.

“This was a community event that was horrific,” Toliver said, standing next to Lee. “Eighty-five years ago, a family lived here.”

Toliver said now she was “heart warmed” by how the community has supported the family, righting a wrong. “A family lived here, not only survived but thrived.”

Community Rallies for Hometown Hero

The community certainly rallied in a collaborative effort for Lee, a hometown hero. The homecoming was made possible by Trinity Habitat for Humanity, HistoryMaker Homes, and Texas Capital. The Craftsman-style house, built in only three months, contains three bedrooms and two bathrooms in its 1,269 square feet. Lee chose cabinetry and flooring for the home, which includes a bedroom designed as her home office. A privacy fence encloses the backyard, while a four-foot wrought iron fence surrounds the front yard.

Newly laid sod and fresh landscaping gave Lee’s new home an attractive curb appeal for welcoming the assembled celebratory crowd. Among those in attendance were Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; Lee’s pastor, the Rev. Walter McDonald of Baker Chapel AME Church; Jon Larson, an executive with Texas Capital; Nelson Mitchell, CEO of HistoryMaker Homes; and Gage Yager, CEO of Trinity Habitat for Humanity.

Friday’s celebration also included a presentation of the colors and pledge of allegiance by Girl Scouts Service Unit 165. Like any good Southerners, they arrived bearing gifts, especially appropriate for someone being welcomed to the neighborhood.

The cupboards in Miss Opal Lee’s new home now contain some hand-delivered Girl Scout cookies.