Opal Lee looks on as a speaker talks during an event honoring her 100th birthday on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Opal Lee spent her 100th birthday on Wednesday at the center of celebrations in her hometown in Texas. The ‘Grandmother of Juneteenth’ even had a scheduled visit from former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Opal Lee was on hand as construction crews broke 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 National Juneteenth Museum, located in a historically Black neighborhood, is projected to open in 2029.
Lee expressed her happiness and gratitude after the announcement of a $3 million donation by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was wearing a flower lei and surrounded by family and friends.
“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,” Opal Lee said.
Later Wednesday (Oct. 7), 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, Opal 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.
Over the years, Opal Lee has been a force in Fort Worth. There, 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. 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 Opal Lee’s home, built a couple of years ago. It stands 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. That was only days after they moved into a white neighborhood. The mob smashed windows and furniture, according to newspaper reports from the time.
Also, 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.
Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
