On Thursday, June 17th, President Joe Biden signed the bill to create the United States’ first new federal holiday since 1983 – Juneteenth. The holiday memorializes June 19, 1865, the day when the end of slavery was announced in Galveston, Texas. The proclamation from President Abraham Lincoln had been actually signed more than two years earlier. The news had traveled slowly.
Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in the presence of Vice President Kamala Harris and 80 members of Congress, as well as local leaders and activists. And, Opal Lee was there.
Activist Opal Lee
Opal Lee is the 94-year-old activist who led the drive to create this new federal holiday. In fact, she’s been called the Grandmother of Juneteenth. Lee worked as a local activist for more than forty years in Fort Worth, Texas, until she decided to take on a larger role. In 2016, Lee decided to take the need for a federal observance of the end of slavery to Congress.
Her route to Washington, DC, wasn’t a straight shot. Lee began visiting cities who invited her to speak. In each one, she walked two and a half miles to symbolize how long the emancipation news took to get to Texas. Lee remembers, “I was thinking that surely, somebody would see a little old lady in tennis shoes trying to get to Congress and notice.”
Lee finally made it to Washington in September last year. With her, she brought a petition for the creation of the federal holiday with a million and a half signatures. She went home disappointed, and started again.
This year, Lee returned in February with a new version of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. This year, Lee got the attention she wanted. Biden’s signature on the bill that passed Congress with a landslide number of votes was all Lee could have wanted. Biden believes that the passing of this bill will be “one of the greatest honors” he will have as president.
Juneteenth celebration in North Georgia
Even before the bill was passed, the Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center (SNCC) already had its own Juneteenth celebration planned for June 19-20. In response to the new holiday, Patrick Brennan, Executive Director of SNCC said, “The staff have been working for months to put together the very first day of activities to recognize Juneteenth at the Sautee Nacoochee Center. We are excited that our work coincides with e passage of the Juneteenth Independence Day Act. If you are looking for a place in Northeast Georgia to learn about and celebrate the day, you are welcome here.”
SNCC has released its schedule for the weekend:
Saturday (all activities are free)
- 10 AM Welcome & Comments at the Outdoor Stage
- 10 AM – 5 PM
- The African American Heritage Site is open for conversation and demonstration.
- Family educational packets are available in the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia.
- The Nacoochee Valley History Museum is open and staffed.
- Outdoor games will be offered.
- Slave Cemetery open and staffed for visitation at the Nacoochee United Methodist Church, 1371 Hwy 17, Sautee, Georgia
- 11 AM, 12 PM & 1 PM – reading of Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper in the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia
- 3 – 5 PM – Pyrography (woodburning) demonstration by artist Ashley Gary in the Cultural Center
- 6 – 8 PM – Reception for artist Ashley Gary
Sunday, June 20
- 1 – 5 PM Ashley Gary’s artwork on display in the Cultural Center (free)
- 4 PM – Orchestra Noir Quintet in concert in the Center Theatre. Adults $28, SNCA member $25, Students $8
For more information on the event, visit SNCC. The Sautee Nacoochee Center is located at 283 Hwy 255 North, Sautee, Georgia.
