Opal Lee receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Fort Worth's Opal Lee, also known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom on May 3, 2024.

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Fort Worth woman known as the grandmother of Juneteenth returned to the White House Friday to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Opal Lee was selected to receive the nation’s highest civilian award, along with 18 other politicians, activists, athletes, and inspiring individuals.

US President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to US retired teacher and activist Opal Lee in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 3, 2024. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nations highest civilian hon

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President Joe Biden recognized Lee for her civil rights efforts.

The 97-year-old walked to Washington D.C. in 2016 to raise awareness about June 19, 1865, which was the day slaves in the United States learned they had been freed.

She was at Biden’s side in 2021 when he signed the bill declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday.

"The first person I handed the pen to was Ms. Opal Lee, the grandmother of the movement that helped make it possible," said President Biden during the ceremony.

Since then, Lee has continued her annual walk to celebrate Juneteenth in Fort Worth.

She has a portrait hanging in the Texas State Capitol and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

President Biden said this honor speaks to the dedication Lee showed in educating the nation.

"Juneteenth is a day of profound weight and power. We have to remember the original sin of slavery and the extrodinary capacity to merge the most painful moments with a better vision of ourselves," he said. "Ms. Opal Lee made it her mission to make history, not erase it. We are a better nation becaue of you."

The other 2024 President Medal of Freedom recipients include:

Clarence B. Jones – civil rights activist who provided legal counsel to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Michael Bloomberg – former New York mayor and philanthropist
James Clyburn – Democrat from South Carolina and longtime friend of Biden
Elizabeth Dole – Republican from North Carolina who served as Transportation Secretary, Labor Secretary, and president of the American Red Cross
Al Gore – former Vice President of the United States and climate activist
John Kerry – former senator and Biden’s former climate envoy
Frank Lautenberg – Democrat senator from New Jersey (died in 2013)
Nancy Pelosi – former Speaker of the House
Medgar Evers – civil rights activist who was killed in 1963
Michelle Yeoh – first Asian woman to win an Academy Award
Jim Thorpe – first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the U.S. (died in 1953)
Judy Shepard – co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation in honor of her son, a 21-year-old gay student at the University of Wyoming who died in 1998 after he was beaten and tied to a fence
Gregory Boyle – Jesuit Catholic priest who founded a gang intervention and rehabilitation program
Phil Donahue -- journalist and former daytime TV talk-show host
Katie Ledecky – most decorated female swimmer in history
Ellen Ochoa – first Hispanic woman in space and second female director of NASA's Johnson Space Center
Jane Rigby – astronomer who is chief scientist of the world's most powerful telescope
Teresa Romero – president of the United Farm Workers and the first Hispanic woman to lead a national union in the U.S.

"These nineteen Americans built teams, coalitions, movements, organizations, and businesses that shaped America for the better," the White House said news release. "They are the pinnacle of leadership in their fields. They consistently demonstrated over their careers the power of community, hard work, and science."

The awards will be presented at the White House on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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