On one of the first cool mornings of a North Texas fall, just blocks from where hundreds of white rioters attacked and smashed Lee’s childhood home in 1939, a major piece of her legacy moved forward as the civil rights legend celebrated her 100th birthday.
Community members sing to Opal Lee on her 100th birthday on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Over 100 people stood outside Fort Worth’s Southside Community Center on Wednesday, Oct. 7, to celebrate the demolition of a building at 959 E. Rosedale St. to make way for the $70 million, 50,000 square-foot National Juneteenth Museum, which is expected to open in 2029.
Community members celebrate Opal Lee’s 100th birthday and attend a ceremony to begin demolition of the former Southside Community Center, making way for the National Juneteenth Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“I kind of felt the spirit of Martin Luther King here this morning, the spirit of Malcolm X here this morning,” said Kristina Banta, president of the Historic Southside Neighborhood Association in remarks to the crowd. “Truth be told, it’s the spirit of the National Juneteenth Museum that is coming ahead of us. It’s the spirit of Dr. Opal Lee and her mission and her fight.”
Religious, political, and community leaders from across Texas were in Fort Worth to celebrate the project before a bulldozer began to tear down the Southside Community Center.
Demolition of the former Southside Community Center begins, making way for the National Juneteenth Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Here’s what to know about the museum as the project moves forward:
$70M project with theater, genealogy center, exhibition halls, plaza
The museum will cost $70 million, said National Juneteenth Museum CEO Jared Howard. About $15 million in additional funding is needed.
A date for a groundbreaking has not been set.
In February 2025, the Fort Worth City Council approved a resolution to develop and lease the land occupied by the community center for the museum.
Neighborhood programs at the Southside Community Center were relocated to the Hazel Harvey Peace Center for Neighborhoods, which held a grand opening on Oct. 1.
A $15 million contribution to the museum from the city was contingent on the museum breaking ground on or before Oct. 31, 2027.
The museum is expected to show how certain topics in African American history, like the Underground Railroad and the Reconstruction era, are connected. It will have a 250-seat theater, exhibition galleries, a food hall, and a plaza.
The museum, leaders announced on Wednesday, will also house a genealogy center that will be intended to help visitors preserve family history through the company FamilySearch. FamilySearch will allow visitors to access the “world’s largest online repository of African American historical records, discover ancestor profiles, and view digital images of genealogical documents from around the world, free of charge,” according to a press release from the church.
“This is an incredible day in the history of our movement, in the history of the Southside, in the history of the city of Fort Worth,” Howard said in remarks. “This is not the end. This is the beginning.”
Opal Lee is honored on her 100th birthday during a ceremony marking the beginning of construction for the National Juneteenth Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026 in Fort Worth. The museum will be built where the former Southside Community Center once was. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram Opal Lee, ‘Grandmother of Juneteenth’
Lee’s 100th birthday on Oct. 7 marks a lifetime of activism.
In 2016, at 90, Lee walked 1,400 miles from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness of the importance of Juneteenth. In 2021, former President Joe Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Over several years, Lee slowly opened up to reporters about the attack on her Fort Worth home.
On Wednesday, Lee watched the demolition of the community center — but not before sharing a few words in her quiet but ever-confident voice.
“This deed won’t go unnoticed,” Lee said. “This is everybody’s contribution. So I’m going to keep on walking and keep on talking until everybody understands that this is our contribution.”
Lee’s birthday celebration will continue Wednesday evening as the museum will host a conversation with former first lady Michelle Obama at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
This story was originally published October 7, 2026 at 3:09 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Emily Holshouser is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.