Opal Lee never lost hope that one day she would return to her childhood home.
A racist mob burned down her house at 940 E. Annie St. in 1939. Fire turned her family’s home to ashes.
More than eight decades later, Lee is on the cusp of returning home. Lee — along with some help — heaved the first wall of her new house on March 21.
“I wanted to raise that thing by myself,” Lee said.
Trinity Habitat for Humanity, Texas Capital Builders and HistoryMaker Homes are funding the project. All Lee had to do was pay for the land: $10.
“I can’t think of something more gratifying to do than to be on this piece of land to literally birth the house out of the ground for such a deserving and heroic citizen of our community,” said Nelson Mitchell, CEO of HistoryMaker Homes.
Celebrating Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth, isn’t just significant to Fort Worth but the entire country and the world, Mayor Mattie Parker said.
“This is our chance to completely start over and give her the home that she so deserves to be proud of in her community,” Parker said.
The construction of Lee’s home is an important part of how Fort Worth is changing, City Council member Chris Nettles said.
He said history is twofold: It is what people remember and what people create.
“We’re building back history that was torn down,” Nettles said.
Lee wanted her grandchildren and Fort Worth to understand that when people work together, more can be accomplished quicker.
“Persistence pays off, and love is so much better than hate. I want them to understand that giving is a part of living,” she said.
Olla Mokhtar is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at olla.mokhtar@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.