Civil Rights activist Opal Lee, known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth”, will receive an honorary doctorate from Southern Methodist University (SMU) during their upcoming commencement ceremony in Dallas, Texas, on May 17th.
Juneteenth marks the end of slavery after the Civil War, and the 97-year-old successfully lobbied for it to be recognized as a national holiday. On June 19, 2021, President Joe Biden, alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Opal Lee, signed into law a law commemorating the moment when Union soldiers brought freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, after the Civil War.
In 2016, Lee walked from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., successfully pushing lawmakers to designate Juneteenth as a national holiday. A National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth’s South Side aims to preserve the history of Juneteenth and serve as a business incubator.
The university will award her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree and host a symposium focused on Lee’s achievements at the ceremony. SMU’s honor marks the eighth honorary degree presented to Lee.
“Having Ms. Lee join us at commencement and share her work through a symposium is a signal honor for our University,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Her life’s work is most deserving of this recognition, and she will inspire our students.”
Opal Lee, a nominee for the 2022 Nobel Prize, is an honorary chair of the National Juneteenth Museum and a board member of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.
She received her childhood home from Habitat for Humanity in December 2023, and her new home, built on the same land where her family home burned down in 1939, started in March 2024.