The City of Dallas has launched a "Juneteenth Story Walk." At Pacific Plaza along Harwood downtown, the city has installed signs with QR codes explaining the history of Juneteenth and the life of Opal Lee.
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 Union soldiers arrived in Galveston and informed slaves they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier. Texas established Juneteenth as a state holiday in 1979; it was made a national holiday last year.
"I want you to learn as much as you can as quick as you can," Lee told students at Pacific Plaza during the ribbon cutting Tuesday.
Lee told students they would grow up to be the next leaders of the city, state and country.
"You are the young people who are going to make this a better town, city, a better state, a better country," she said. "It's left up to you. You say, 'Oh, we can't do anything,' but you can. You can listen to your teacher and your parents. They really know what they're talking about."
"It was actually quite fun," one student said of meeting Lee. "I shook her hand because I'm actually kind of a big fan. I kind of wanted to meet her."
"I love that our son had a chance to meet a living legend," his dad said. "I'm so grateful he got to have a conversation with her."
Mayor Eric Johnson said the project aims to educate and inspire young people.
"Juneteenth represents hundreds of years of history, a struggle for recognition, a fight for human rights, a battle for our identities, and a war for the soul of a nation," he said. "History is not always pleasant. Our past can humble us, and it can remind us we are, and we always have been, human, even when some of us weren't treated like we were."
Johnson said he hopes the Juneteenth Story Walk will help families find ways to engage each other and talk about history.
"We can't bury our past. We have to keep retelling stories about human nature, the triumphs and the tragedies, the mistakes and the ingenuity," he said.
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