“Many consider her the ‘Grandmother of Juneteenth,’ but if you ask her who she is, she will tell you she’s ‘just a little old lady in tennis shoes getting in everybody’s business.’” – Opal’s Walk 2 DC

Opal Lee is a 99-year-old Texan hailed as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” in light of her significant campaigning to mark the occasion as a U.S. national holiday. Juneteenth “Freedom Day,” celebrated on June 19, marks the end of slavery in the United States and was recognized as a federal holiday by President Joe Biden in June 2021. This historic achievement is partially thanks to Lee’s tireless dedication to this cause, which earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024.

Along with many Black American families who started commemorating Juneteenth from 1866, Lee’s family celebrated the occasion annually in their Texas community. Lee connects her passion for Juneteenth to a devastating fire set upon her family home in Fort Worth, Texas, on that very same day.

“On the 19th June, 500 people gathered who didn’t want us in that neighborhood, and they tore that place apart and burned the furniture. … I don’t know whether that had anything to do with it or not, but Juneteenth has been foremost in my mind for a long time, a long time,” she said.

Originally trained as a teacher and counselor, Lee spent 25 years educating and supporting youth in Texas schools until she retired in 1977. She continued her service to her Fort Worth community, setting up her nonprofit Unity Unlimited in 2000, which runs a food bank and farm that serves 500 families facing food poverty every day.

It was through her nonprofit that she organized the influential campaign Opal’s Walk 2 DC, beginning in 2016. When interviewed in 2021 about the walk, Lee said:

“I decided that I would walk from Fort Worth to Washington D.C., doing two and a half miles in the morning and two and a half in the afternoon to symbolize that in Texas, the enslaved didn’t know they were free for two and a half years after everybody else.”

As a result, 1.5 million Americans lent their signature to Opal’s campaign for Juneteenth to be recognized by Congress. Opal’s Walk 2 DC brought significant national media attention to Juneteenth from 2016 to when it was signed into Congress in 2021.

As you plan your celebrations for Juneteenth this year, take a moment to offer thanks to Opal Lee for her courage and perseverance. Her quest to unite Americans on the issue of freedom for all serves as an inspiration to all those who follow in her tennis-shoed footsteps. This Juneteenth, you can even take part in Opal’s walk for freedom across the country, in celebration of America’s 250th Birthday (and Lee’s 100th!). Check out the website to find an event near you!

Watch Opal Lee’s interview from her 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony: