Light jazz music rumbled softly outside 805 St. Louis St. as people waited to enter the Baton Rouge African American Museum for its reopening on Juneteenth, a museum founded by Sadie Roberts-Joseph.
They called her the mother of Juneteenth in Louisiana. Roberts-Joseph was killed in 2019 when she was 75 years old. She was widely known for organizing Juneteenth celebrations and advocating for African American history throughout the community.
Initiated in 2001, the museum was created to expand knowledge of African American history through exhibits and community involvement. More than 500 people registered for the grand opening on Juneteenth, and the museum will officially open to the public July 1 — operating 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
The reopening after Roberts-Joseph’s murder took roughly five years of planning, renovations and fundraising by Roberts-Joseph’s children, Angela Roberts Machen and Jason Roberts. Machen serves as CEO and Roberts as curator…