[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 120 (Friday, July 9, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         PROCLAMATION TO HONOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OPAL LEE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARC A. VEASEY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 9, 2021

  Mr. VEASEY. Madam Speaker, few can be heralded as being the impetus 
for one of this country's national holidays. Fort Worth's own Opal Lee 
is one such person. It is not an overstatement to say that without Opal 
Lee, June 19 would not have been made a national holiday. Juneteenth, 
as it is known, now is. Invited by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Opal 
Lee stood next to him in the White House on June 17 as the President 
signed into law the legislation making June 19 a Federal holiday; and 
she's been jetting, literally, around the country ever since to be 
recognized for this monumental achievement.
  Opal Lee has committed much of her life to celebrating June 19, the 
day in 1865, when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, 
landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that 
enslaved Africans were now free. Quoting from General Orders Number 3, 
Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger announced that ``[t]he people of Texas are 
informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of 
the United States, all slaves are free. . . .''
  Opal Lee has been the face of Juneteenth in Fort Worth for decades. 
By the early 2000s, she began advocating for making Juneteenth a 
national holiday. And in 2016, at age 90, she started a walking 
campaign across the Nation to bring attention to and awareness of the 
need for a National Day of Observance for Juneteenth. Juneteenth is the 
oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the 
United States.
  Opal Lee is a graduate of the Historic I.M. Terrell High School, 
class of 1943. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1953, from Wiley 
College, now Wiley University. She returned to Fort Worth to teach at 
Amanda McCoy Elementary School for 15 years, where she was regarded as 
one of the best educators in her field. She later obtained her master's 
degree in Counseling and Guidance from North Texas State University, 
now University of North Texas, and served as Home/School Counselor for 
Fort Worth Independent School District until her retirement in 1977.
  With Lenora Rolla, another of Fort Worth's legendary icons and 
treasures, as its inspiration, Opal Lee, along with 19 other charter 
members, founded the Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical 
Society in the 1970s. The Tarrant County Black Historical & 
Genealogical Society is dedicated to archiving and preserving the 
historical contributions of Fort Worth and Tarrant County's Black 
citizens to be able to educate and empower future generations through 
art, history, and culture.
  Opal Lee's long and varied service to Fort Worth also includes 
serving on the Historic & Cultural Landmarks Commission, AIDS Outreach 
committee, Evans Avenue Business Association, and Riverside 
Neighborhood Advisory Council, among many others. For more than 30 
years, Lee has served as Precinct Chair for District 8. She is a member 
of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, lncorporated; the Grandmother's Club; the 
Ethel Ransom Humanitarian & Cultural Club and remains an active member 
of Baker Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where she serves as 
a Missionary, church school teacher, assistant teacher and Deaconess. 
That is why I am honored to have her as my constituent in Texas' 33rd 
District, and proud to honor her as a Civil Rights leader for North 
Texas.

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