Opal Lee celebrated her 100th birthday Wednesday by kicking off the start of construction of a museum in her Texas hometown dedicated to telling the history of Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S.
“It was important for us to do this on this date because everything we’ve done for the last several years, everything we continue to do, is built around the spirit of the venerable Miss Opal Lee,” said Jarred Howard, CEO of the upcoming National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth.
