Crystal Wise/Fort Worth Magazine
Opal Lee
A group of rioters may have ousted civil rights activist Opal Lee and her family from their home in 1939 when she was 12, but that hasn’t stopped her from fighting for over 80 years to get it back. In fact, the property where her home used to reside on 940 E Annie St., was just given to Lee as a birthday gift for her 97th birthday from Trinity Habitat for Humanity (THH), the organization that acquired the property. The always gracious Lee was the guest of honor at a groundbreaking ceremony that signifies her journey with the property coming full circle, Saturday. The general contractor for this build is THH, which is working alongside Citizens Concerned with Human Dignity who will serve as the organization funding this project.
"You know what, I tried for years to find out who owned the lot," Lee told CBS 11. "I found out that Habitat owned it. I offered to buy it, they wouldn't sell it to me. They gave it to me."
Lee, who is also one of THH's founding board members, says she and her family only stayed in the home a few nights before rioters gathered to harass, vandalize, and burn down their home, which was located in Fort Worth's historic Southside.
“If they had given us an opportunity to stay there and be their neighbors, they would have found out we didn’t want any more than what they had – a decent place to stay, jobs that paid, (to be) able to go to school in the neighborhood, even if it was a segregated school,” Lee said. “We would have been good neighbors, but they didn’t give us an opportunity. And I felt like everyone needs an opportunity.”
Stephen Montoya
Lee, who is known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, made history when she made the decision to walk from Fort Worth to Washington D.C. to try and get Juneteenth recognized as a federal holiday in 2016. Her dedication paid off and nearly five years after she made that walk, President Joe Biden signed the legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Records indicate that a group of Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, in June of 1865 with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official on January 1, 1863.
Since then, in Texas, African Americans and history fans alike have been commemorating, in one shape or form, this date. Juneteenth became a state holiday in 1980.
Four years before Juneteenth became a state holiday, Millard and Linda Fuller founded Habitat for Humanity, an organization that has helped renovate, repair, and improve more than 800,000 quality, affordable homes and has served over 4 million people worldwide. With a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live, including Lee. Habitat for Humanity works alongside volunteers and partner families to build homes and strengthen communities.
“Trinity Habitat for Humanity is profoundly grateful to the countless individuals and organizations that have contributed to Opal Lee's reclaiming of her home,” the organization wrote in a statement. “We look forward to Welcoming Opal Lee Home as a community in honor of her 97th birthday.”
