Sadie Roberts-Joseph

Sadie Roberts-Joseph (1944 – July 12, 2019) was an American community activist and founder of the Baton Rouge Odell S. Williams Now & Then Museum of African-American History in 2001.[1] She was also the founder of a non-profit organization, Community Against Drugs and Violence (CADAV).[2] She organized the annual "Juneteenth Celebration" which commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the Southern United States.[3] She helped organize an annual Veterans Day celebration at the Port Hudson National Cemetery to honor veterans of all races who fought in the Civil War.[4]

Sadie Roberts-Joseph
Born1944
Died (aged 75)
Cause of deathHomicide by asphixiation
NationalityAmerican
Occupationcommunity activist
Known forOdell S. Williams Now And Then African-American Museum

Early life and education

Roberts-Joseph was born in 1944 and grew up in Woodville, Mississippi. She was the fifth in a family of twelve children, and her parents were sharecroppers.[5] The family later moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She attended Baton Rouge Vocational-Technical School and Southern University, studying education and speech pathology. She was an active volunteer in the local black community, and worked for many years as a certified respiratory therapy technician.[4]

Personal life and death

Her brother serves as pastor of the New St. Luke Baptist church in Baton Rouge. She had two children, a son and a daughter: Angela Roberts Machen, a commissioner on the Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission.[4][6]

On Friday, July 12, 2019, the body of Roberts-Joseph was discovered in the trunk of her own car about three miles from her home in Baton Rouge.[7][8] On Monday 15 July, police stated that the cause of death was "traumatic asphyxiation" by suffocation and ruled it a homicide.[9][10]

The next day they arrested a tenant of hers who owed $1,200 in rent.[11]

References
  1. "Body of African-American history museum founder discovered in trunk of car". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  2. Mervosh, Sarah (2019-07-15). "Killing of Sadie Roberts-Joseph, African American Museum Founder, Stuns Baton Rouge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  3. "Founder Of African American History Museum Discovered Dead In Car Trunk". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  4. writers, LEA SKENE and ELLYN COUVILLION | Staff. "Woman found dead in trunk of car was founder of Baton Rouge African American history museum". The Advocate. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  5. "Sadie Roberts-Joseph exuded a 'quiet power' as she enriched her community". CNN. 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
  6. "Founder Of African American Museum Found Dead In Car Trunk". HuffPost. 2019-07-13. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  7. Horton, Alex; Knowles, Hannah (14 July 2019). "Activist who spotlighted African American history found dead in trunk of her own car, police say". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  8. Nicole Chavez. "Sadie Roberts-Joseph, founder of an African American history museum, is found dead in the trunk of a car". CNN. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  9. "African American museum founder Sadie Roberts-Joseph found dead in boot of car". The Independent. 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  10. "Sadie Roberts-Joseph exuded a 'quiet power' as she enriched her community". CNN. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  11. "| Time". time.com. Retrieved 2019-07-23.

See also:

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