In 2016, then-89-year-old Opal Lee departed on a 1,400-mile walk from Texas to Washington, D.C. to make June 19th a national holiday.
June 19th — Juneteenth — marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned of their emancipation.
Lee spent decades raising awareness about the day in Fort Worth, Texas: she first started leading events in 1977 after her retirement.
2016 was a turning point for her: Lee told NPR that she “really doubled down in 2016” by “going bigger” with her trek.
“I knew I just had to spread the word about Juneteenth to everybody.”
Lee told ABC7 in 2021:
“I was about 89, I’m pushing 90. And I don’t see anything I’ve done, and I feel like there is something more that I can do. My idea was to walk from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., and that surely somebody would notice a little old lady in tennis shoes. If I left in September 2016, I got to Washington on January 10th, 2017.”
Lee’s march to DC garnered national attention: 1.5 million people signed her petition to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
In 2021, Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee introduced a bill in the U.S. House to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
The House voted to pass the bill by a 415–14 vote. The Senate followed suit, passing the bill by unanimous consent.
Pres. Joe Biden signed the bill into law on June 17th, 2021, making Juneteenth the U.S.’s 12th national holiday. Lee was present for the signing of the bill.
Lee told Fox 4 then:
“The president signed it into law and I was there, and it was one of the happiest days of my life.”
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