Juneteenth museum planned for Fort Worth gets boost

Opal Lee, known as the grandmother of Juneteenth , wants Americans to commemorate the holiday long after she's gone.

• She's working with local and national civil rights advocates to open a National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth in 2026.

The big picture: Located in Fort Worth's Southside Historic District , the 50,000-square-foot museum will include an amphitheater and food hall. It will host guest lectures, community events and performances.

• Museum officials tell Axios they have raised half of the $70 million they need.

The latest: Trinity Habitat for Humanity plans to build 100 homes over the next five years in Lee's honor, Trinity Habitat CEO Gage Yager announced last week.

• Companies, organizations and individuals will be able to sponsor the homes for $180,000 as a "Dr. Opal Lee Legacy Builder."
• Ten percent of the sponsorship money will be donated to the National Juneteenth Museum project. Texas Capital, which helped build Lee's new Fort Worth house, has offered to be the first sponsor.
• Lee gasped, then smiled when she heard the news on Friday.

Flashback: The Southside neighborhood, a historically underserved part of Fort Worth, highlights the inequities that many predominantly Black neighborhoods across the country have endured.

• The construction of Interstate 35W in the 1960s divided Fort Worth's neighborhoods , leading to neglect and divestment.

Zoom out: Several museums dedicated to African American history touch on Juneteenth. But the National Juneteenth Museum will focus on the holiday, with "stories of freedom of the enslaved to modern-day liberation."

What's next: The group building the museum is still accepting donations .

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