Sadie Roberts-Joseph, 75, a beloved Baton Rouge icon, an avid activist and founder of an African American history museum was discovered dead in the trunk of a car.
The body was located on Friday, but it wasn’t immediately clear what led police officers to the car, and according to police, her cause of death is still not known.
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The car was just three miles from her home. Roberts-Joseph founded the Odell S. Williams Now and Then African American Museum in 2001, where she had been hosting the city’s Juneteenth celebration for years. She was an esteemed advocate in the Baton Rouge area. The police department said in a statement:
“Ms. Sadie was a tireless advocate of peace in the community/ Ms. Sadie is a treasure to our community, she will be missed by BRPD and her loss will be felt in the community she served.”1
Besides her museum, she also founded Community Against Drugs and Violence, a non-profit organization focused in creating a safer environment for children in North Baton Rouge. State Representative C. Denise Marcelle said in a Facebook post that the activist “never bothered anyone” and was hoping to expand her museum.
The Baton Rouge Branch of the NAACP honored Roberts-Joseph in a Facebook post, writing:
“We lost a Cultural Legend Yesterday! #RIP Sadie Roberts Joseph. From reviving Juneteenth, to the Culture preserved at Her Museum, she was a trendsetter and icon in this City.”1
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Beatrice Johnson, one of Roberts-Joseph’s eleven siblings, lives just two doors down from her sister’s home on a peaceful street in Baton Rouge. She said Roberts-Joseph stopped by every day. Johnson said her sister came over Friday because “she had mixed some cornbread, but her oven went out, and she brought it here to put in the oven.”2
Gesturing toward her kitchen, Johnson said: “The bread is still there. She never came back to get it.”2
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the police detectives investigating Sadie Roberts-Joseph’s death at 225-389-4869 or Crime Stoppers at 225-344-STOP (7867).
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