COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Several Colorado Springs schools have embraced the honor of hosting Dr. Opal Lee to speak in their schools.
Dr. Lee is a retired educator and counselor who was instrumental in the process of making Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday in the United States.
Juneteenth is such a prominent day in the history of the United States as it was the day that those enslaved in Texas were finally freed from their enslavement, nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed.
Dr. Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth spoke at Pikes Peak State College about the history and importance of the country’s newest official holiday.
Now 97 years old, Opal Lee earned her informal title as the grandmother of Juneteenth eight years ago when she walked 1,600 miles from her home in Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C., collecting signatures and raising support for it to become a national holiday.
"I realized I'd raised four children, I taught school, but I still had an itch. There still was something I needed to do. It was Juneteenth, always," Dr. Lee told News 5.
In June 2021, Lee was on hand when President Joe Biden signed the Senate bill into law, making Juneteenth the 11th federal holiday.
"To be in the White House with the president and the vice president, I tell you, I could have done a holy dance," Dr. Lee recalled.
Dr. Lee wrote "Juneteenth," a children’s book about the holiday commemorating June 19, 1865 the day when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to announce slaves in the southernmost Confederate state were freed by executive decree.
Word of their freedom reached Texas two and half years after President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War.
Lee told students at PPSC that she grew up celebrating the holiday in Marshall, Texas where she grew up. After moving to Fort Worth and noticing there were smaller private celebrations, Dr. Lee sought to expand the celebration of the "Day of Freedom." Her vision grew from a single-day picnic at a local park to a city-wide event.
"You’ve got to remember this, the Fourth of July freed the land. The 19th of June freed the people," Dr. Lee said.
Dr. Lee is giving her land in Fort Worth to be the home to a Juneteenth Museum that will also meet the needs of her community including a food hall, theatre, housing, and space for small businesses to get their start.
"In Fort Worth, we’ve raised $33 million and we’re going to come to the nation to get the rest of it, and we’re going to open June 2026," Dr. Lee said.
This coming Juneteeth, Dr. Lee is hosting a Walk for Freedom in Fort Worth and virtually, asking everyone to share a photo of themselves walking 2.5 miles wherever they live. The distance is meant to recognize the two and half years it took for news of freedom to reach enslaved people in Texas.
Dr. Lee will speak with students at Gibberson Elementary in District 2 on Friday, April 12.
General Gordon Granger and seven thousand black troops from New York and New Jersey traveled to Galveston, Texas. Upon arrival, General Granger read General Order No. 3 stating that all slaves are free.
Due to her immense efforts at the forefront of this incredible accomplishment, Dr. Lee has earned herself the nickname the "Grandmother of Juneteenth."
She hopes to continue to educate those on the origin of Juneteenth and the significance it possesses.
Editor's Note: News5 originally had two separate web stories regarding this event. We decided to merge the two stories together.
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