Page 136 - 1939 News Today

>> in his remarks, president biden said this, about opal lee. >> you are an incredible woman, miss opal. he really are. as a child, growing up in texas, she and her family would celebrate juneteenth. and juneteenth 1939, when she was 12 years old, a white mob torched her family home. but such hate never stopped her. >> february of this year, opal lee again called on congress to pass the legislation that president biden signed into law today. >> juneteenth can be the unifier thats used to bring t...

Today. at the white house. you think about the two sides of this in her life, right? 12 years old, juneteenth, 1939, her family is burned out of their home in texas. by a white mob. there is never anybody held accountable for it, never anybody arrested. she lives her life celebrating the juneteenth holiday in texas, helping texans recognize and they do in that state. she decides the country needs to recognize, its not because of what was done wrong to her that she wants the country to know about...

Into was a mostly white neighborhood at least a street. and they move there in june of 1939, they had been told by a local real estate agent that it would be fine even though they were a black family moving into a mostly white neighborhood. it was not fine, they did not last the week. it made the local news and the headlines that are still hard to look at today. fourth worth crowds attacks negroes. violence climaxed observance of negroes a mens position when a crowd estimated of 500 persons stor...

Family home in 1939 when she was 12 years old, both young enough and old enough to be deeply scarred and scared for life by something like that, young miss opal, again 12 years old when it happened, she survived that attack along with her two siblings. she would go on to play an important role in local celebration of that holiday in texas, specifically in forth worth where she live the rest of her life. she was a teacher, she went on to work for a local food charities, and she became part of the...

Signed a bill today making juneteenth a national holiday set to take effect immediately. during today signing ceremony biden made a point of highlighting a 94-year-old woman name opal lee who had spent decades of her life fighting to make juneteenth a national holiday. >> were blessed to mark the day in the presence of miss opal lee. i have the honor of meeting her in nevada more than a year ago, she told me she loved me and i believe that. i wanted to believe it. miss opal you are incredible, t...

The flake family out of their home, and what was literally the fourth night they were trying to sleep in that home, that happened in 1939, the summer of 1939 in forth worth texas. i want to put back up on the screen there one piece from that coverage from the time that quote about when exactly it happened. remember this league from the first story that i mentioned, violence climaxed observance of negroes and mental patient late tonight, when a crowd estimated of 500 persons stones of residents. ...

The end of the civil war, and they issued, he issued general order number three. for the first time bringing news to the 250,000 enslaved black people in texas at the time that by law they were now free. it was actually a huge mural there in galveston on the side where the general issued a proclamation, it says absolute quality, you see that? and june 19th has been celebrated in texas, in the state of texas for very long time. its been a paid state holiday in texas since 1979. as in that local n...

But after being born in marshall, texas in the twenties, when she was 12 in june 1939 she and her family moved 200 miles was all the way to fourth worth. it was her and her two siblings and her mom and dad. they move all the way from the -- they paid $165 for their house on east any street and new york avenue. its a neighborhood today that is hemmed in on three sides by a zillion lanes of interstate and major highways it has the effect of cutting it off from the rest of forth worth. back in the ...

Was ever arrested apparently. according to but kennedy nothing further was ever published about the incident or any investigation. and like i said, she was 12 years old when it happened. one of the three children of otis and mattie flake who were burned out of that home in june 1939. theres an interview about it later and she told jackson this quote, people gathered, the police couldnt control them. my dad came home with a gun, and the police told him if he busted a cap, theyd lead that mob have...

Together the way it evolved. police might have said they were investigating the quote mobbing, police told the local press at the time that in fact the mob destroyed the familys furniture, broke windows to the house, damaged the building, hit a plan at the scene with a baseball bat. the next day, quote, youths came into the house and turned on the gas jets and then fled so the building would burn, too. even though thats what happened and the police were supposedly on it and they had been on it f...