Opal Lee, the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” celebrated her 98th birthday Thursday night and was able to see what the inside of the upcoming National Juneteenth Museum will look like with the revealing of new renderings.
The event took place at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History at 1600 Gendy St.
When Lee was asked about the importance of the Juneteenth museum she says it will be a “motivator” for Fort Worth’s Southside community but most importantly a place for everyone.
“It means that people all over can come together to make the nation aware of our oneness,” Lee said. “It’s not just a Texas thing, or a Black thing, it’s for everyone.”
Jarred Howard, CEO of the National Juneteenth Museum, presented multiple renderings of inside the museum from the food hall, the exhibition galleries, a 250 seat theater, public courtyard and more.
The front of the museum, where the sign of the National Juneteenth Museum will be displayed, will have a LED screen to promote different occasions in the community.
The museum will not be in displayed in chronological order but will have themes to tell a story, Howard said. The reason is because Juneteenth is one day and the story behind it is more compelling. There will be themes such as “Journey to Freedom” that will focus on the journey to Juneteenth, who participated, and how did we get here.
There will be other themes that will celebrate building community and celebrating Black culture from the food, businesses, and people who make it up.
“We need you to be talking about it because we want to get it built and get it built quickly for a couple of reasons,” Howard said. “Not the least of which is we’ve got a 98-year-old champion that wants to see it and experience it.”
The museum is also planned to have a speaker series and children’s education programs.
Lee, symbolically walked 1,400 miles from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., in 2016 to bring attention to the importance of the Juneteenth holiday. In 2021, Lee, who lives in Fort Worth, was in attendance when President Joe Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday. She won the the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
The museum’s original location was to be on vacant land in the 900 block of East Rosedale Street, but the organization was not able to acquire the land. The museum has now set its sights on 959 E. Rosedale St., where the Southside Community Center stands. A report by an architectural firm showed the community center is in need of renovations but there are no future plans to renovate the center.
The National Juneteenth Museum is halfway to its fundraising goal for construction, operating costs, and programming with $36 million, Howard announced at the celebration.
The estimated opening for the museum is in 2026.
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