Ninety-seven-year-old Opal Lee, the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” received the keys to her new Fort Worth, Texas, home on June 14.
The home was fittingly built on the same lot that racists ran her family out of when she was only 12 years old on June 19, 1939. Even more appropriate, the home was given to Lee just days before Juneteenth, which she pushed to have recognized as a national holiday.
“I’m so happy I don’t know what to do. Everybody will know that this is going to be a happy place.” Lee told the Associated Press.
The home was built and supplied with furniture donated by several Dallas/Fort Worth area groups. Lee does not remember a lot about the attack, but what she does remember has stayed with her for 85 years. At the time of the attack, her family was the first Black family to move into the neighborhood.
“Would you believe that the newspaper said there were about 500 people gathered across the street over there,” Lee told NBC 5. “And do you know the policemen were all there and when my dad came home from work with a gun the police told him if he busted a cap, they would let the mob have us.”
Lee continued,
“Our parents worked like Trojans to get us out of there. They took us down a few blocks and that’s where we stayed. I was going to put a house on it for sale and then Habitat brought me the plans of a house they planned to build. I was so happy I could have done a holy dance! I was awestruck. I didn’t know how to act and I have decided that house, that the house I live in, I’m going to leave [that house] and only bring my toothbrush to the new one.”The Habitat that Lee referred to is Trinity Habitat for Humanity, the Dallas branch of the Habitat for Humanity non-profit, that partnered with Opal Lee’s non-profit, Citizens Concerned with Human Dignity, to break ground on the lot.
To make the purchase of the land legally binding, Lee was sold the land for $10. Lee was intimately involved in the process, she handpicked the flooring, fixtures, and lighting for her home and a grant from TexasCapital provided Lee with the money to have her home fully furnished. JCPenney, which has long been supportive of Lee, provided her with basic kitchen appliances, dinnerware, home decor, and bedroom and bathroom linens for her home.
Lee, meanwhile, looked ahead to life after the ceremony, which filled her home with activists, community leaders, and her supporters.
“This world should be one where there’s no strife,” she told NBC 5. “And I don’t know how that will happen, but I’m looking forward to being a peaceful old lady.”
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