By: Chase Rogers and Zacharia Washington
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Opal Lee, a longtime Fort Worth civil rights leader known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” was hospitalized late last month while visiting Ohio to mark the 30th anniversary of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, her family confirmed Sunday.
Lee is “still unstoppable” despite her hospitalization, according to a weekend news release from local nonprofit Unity Unlimited Inc., run byLee’s granddaughter.
The 98-year-old is now recovering from her hospital stay and looking forward to returning home to Texas, the release said.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center did not respond to an inquiry seeking additional information Sunday afternoon.
Lee was scheduled to attend the center’s annual International Freedom Conductor Awards program on May 24. Her granddaughter, Dione Sims, said Lee could not attend due to her hospitalization.
The event also honored Toni Morrison, the late Nobel Prize-winning author; Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author; and Lonnie G. Bunch III, the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the current secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
Lee is known as one of the most vocal advocates for the national recognition of Juneteenth. The June 19 holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, marking the day Union troops arrived in Galveston to inform enslaved people they were free.
Lee was born in 1926 in Marshall; her family is from Cotton Valley, La.
Her family moved to Fort Worth when she was 10. Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s in counseling and guidance. She retired after working as an educator and counselor, and is a mother to four children.
Lee began advocating for federal recognition of Juneteenth when she was 86. In 2016, she drew national attention when the then-89-year-old traveled from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., walking 2.5 miles in several cities along the way — a more than 1,400-mile route — as part of the effort.
Lee often leads the annual walk in Fort Worth, though last year’s walk was held in Dallas. The 2.5-mile walk symbolizes the 2.5 years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach enslaved people in Galveston.
Before becoming a federal holiday, Juneteenth had been a state holiday in Texas for roughly four decades. It has been long celebrated and recognized by Black communities, including in East Texas, where Lee is from.
It took nearly 10 years before Lee’s mission was accomplished, and in 2021, former President Joe Biden signed a law making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Lee took to her Facebook page on Sunday morning, writing, “Although I am unable to return the many texts and calls I have received over the past few days, please know that each one is appreciated; I am truly grateful for your concern and good wishes.”
Even from her hospital bed, Lee’s mission continues, the Sunday news release said.
“Juneteenth is about freedom for all of us — not just Texans, not just Black people, but everybody,” Lee said. “And this year, I especially want to see more young people getting involved on Juneteenth. It’s up to the young folks to keep that freedom moving forward.”
The annual Opal’s Walk for Freedom event is scheduled to take place on Juneteenth in Fort Worth. It will also take place in Los Angeles virtually, so “everyone, everywhere can join the movement,” the release said.
By Chase Rogers
Chase Rogers is a breaking news reporter at The Dallas Morning News. He grew up in Granbury and studied journalism at Texas State University in San Marcos. Before joining The News, he reported for the Austin American-Statesman and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He can be reached at 361-239-6527 and Signal at crogers.95.
Zacharia Washington is a breaking news reporter with The Dallas Morning News. A graduate of Huston-Tillotson University and The University of Texas at Austin, Zacharia lived in Austin for several years before coming back to Dallas, her hometown, in 2024. She previously worked as a local government reporter for Community Impact.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
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