Opal Lee, 'Grandmother of Juneteenth,' receives honorary degree from SMU
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Longtime civil rights activist and "Grandmother of Juneteenth," Opal Lee, received an honorary doctorate degree from Southern Methodist University at its spring semester commencement over the weekend.
The 97-year-old was awarded with a Doctor of Humane Letters degree on Saturday at the university's ceremony in the Moody Coliseum.
Who is Opal Lee?
Known affectionately as the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," Lee has dedicated decades to activism, tirelessly educating people about the significance of Juneteenth. Her annual grassroots campaign and the accompanying march to Washington, D.C., were pivotal in the declaration of Juneteenth as a national holiday in 2021.
Born in Marshall and raised in Fort Worth, Lee has garnered numerous accolades for her efforts, including the remarkable gesture of receiving a new home built on the same grounds where her childhood home stood, destroyed by 500 white rioters on June 19, 1939.
"The fact that it happened on the 19th day of June has spurred me to make people understand that Juneteenth is not just a festival," Lee told Fort Worth Star-Telegram as she recalled the incident in 2021.
She was recently bestowed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.
More: 'Grandmother of Juneteenth' honored with portrait in Texas Senate
When is Juneteenth 2024?
Juneteenth will be observed on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
It became the 11th federally recognized holiday on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed Senate Bill S.475.
What is Juneteenth?
When President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, to free enslaved African Americans, it took time for word to spread.
And even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective, it could not be enforced in secessionist states still under Confederate control, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
It wasn't until more than two years later on June 19, 1865 — five months after Congress passed the 13th Amendment, which would be ratified at year's end — that Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, with 2,000 Union troops to proclaim that more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free. Though some local slave owners initially ignored the directive, Granger demanded that they comply with the proclamation.
— USA TODAY reporter Eric Lagatta contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Opal Lee, 'Grandmother of Juneteenth,' gets honorary degree from SMU
