Ms. Opal harnessed all her strength to create a nationwide federal holiday to honor the importance of Juneteenth.
Not untilOpal Leemade it her mission.
On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger of the Union forces read General Order No.
Ms. Opal published the book Juneteenth: A Children’s Story and also cowrote a stage play about the events of June 19, 1865.Credit:Elizabeth Lavin; Styling: Diamond Mahone; Gold Lame Kimono: Courtesy La Vie Style House; Jewelry: Courtesy Elizabeth Hooper Studio
3 at several landmarks in the port city of Galveston.
The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.
No one knows why the news had not made it to Texas until then.
Credit: Elizabeth Lavin; Styling: Diamond Mahone; Dress: Courtesy Sai Sankoh
Early Juneteenth Celebrations
By 1866, people returned to Galveston on pilgrimages to the spot.
Early images show flower-draped carts, guests, and celebrants decked out in elegant finery.
There were prayers, parades, singing, and public readings of the proclamation.
Opal Lee (center) urges elected officials to make Juneteenth an annual, paid federal holiday. You can sign her petition at opalswalk2dc.com.Credit: Courtesy Unity Unlimited, Inc.
The main goals of these early gatherings were honoring the formerly enslaved and lifting African American people.
But a resistance formed, barring celebrations on public property for these festivities.
For decades, Juneteenth was mainly a Texas thing.
Since then, it has grown in importance.
However, the fond remembrances soon turned harrowing.
The family remained in the area, and things quieted down a bit.
But Ms. Opal’s connections with the holiday would only strengthen over time.
After having four children, she earned a master’s degree and worked as a schoolteacher and counselor.
She watched as the events grew there, drawing as many as 30,000 attendees in the 1970s.
As Ms. Opal remembers the holiday, there was always a barbecue.
“In Fort Worth, the men worked at what were called the packinghouses.
Those companies would give them all the meat for the barbecue,” she says.
As it evolved, Ms. Opal also grew as an activist in her community.
That has now become her life’s quest.
Not deterred, she returned in September of 2020 with a petition in hand.
She traveled to the Capitol again in February 2021 to reintroduce the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.
“I don’t mean just Black people,” she muses.
“Nobody is free until we’re all free.”
Her persistence and dedication to the cause paid off.
“Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments,” President Biden said in a press conference.
“They embrace them.”
