Joseph Laroche: The Only Black Passenger Aboard The Titanic
Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche: The Story Of The Only Black Passenger Aboard The Titanic
- Laroche, a young Haitian engineer, boarded the Titanic with his family to return to Haiti for better prospects.
- Laroche ensured his wife and daughters' safety, but perished when the ship sank, becoming part of the Titanic's human tragedy.
- Laroche's story highlights the larger narratives of the Titanic disaster, including immigration, family, and the pursuit of a better life.
When the RMS Titanic set sail in April 1912, among its passengers was a young Haitian engineer whose story would become one of the lesser-known chapters of the historic disaster. Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche was just 25 years old when he boarded the Titanic with his white French-born wife, Juliette, and their two young daughters, Simone and Louise. The family was traveling second class as they made their way back to Haiti, where Laroche hoped to build a better future for his family when tragedy struck.
So, who was he? Let’s take a look into the life of Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche.
Who Was Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche?
Born in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Laroche moved to France as a young man, where he pursued an education and eventually earned an engineering degree. Despite his accomplishments, he reportedly encountered racial and professional barriers that made it difficult to establish the career he wanted in Europe, according to the Molly Brown House Museum.
Laroche ultimately decided to return to his native Haiti with his family. His connection to the country was especially significant: his uncle was Cincinnatus Leconte, who served as president of Haiti, according to Kellie Carter Jackson, a Knafel Assistant Professor of the Humanities in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College.
Laroche and his wife were expecting their third child, making the prospect of secure employment especially important. According to Jackson, his uncle had promised to secure him a position as “a mathematician and pay him 200 a month, which was more than a modest salary at the time” once he returned home to Haiti, Jackson noted.
Why Did the Laroches Board the Titanic?
The Laroche family had initially booked passage aboard another ship. However, according to accounts of their journey, the family changed their plans because of the other ship line’s dining arrangements, which would not allow their young daughters to eat in the main dining saloon with their parents, noted the Molly Brown House Museum noted.
The Titanic offered a more suitable arrangement for the family, so they changed their booking and they boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg, France, on April 12. Neither Laroche nor his family could have known that their decision would place them aboard one of the most famous, and ultimately tragic, voyages in history.
Joseph’s Final Moments
They enjoyed the voyage for three days, socializing well with other passengers, until tragedy struck in the early hours of April 15, 1912, when the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and began to sink at approximately 11:40 p.m.
As chaos spread throughout the ship, Laroche reportedly focused on getting his wife and daughters to safety. Juliette and the two girls were able to board a lifeboat and survived the disaster. It is estimated that only 705 people were rescued with the lifeboats onboard.
According to the Molly Brown House Museum, “Joseph draped his coat, stuffed with money and family valuables, across his wife’s shoulders. ‘You will need it,’ he told Juliette, 22. “I will see you in New York. I must take another raft. God be with you.'”
Sadly, Laroche did not survive the collision. His body was never recovered.
Juliette and her daughters eventually returned to France, carrying on without Joseph. Their story became part of the larger human tragedy of the Titanic, a disaster remembered not only for the ship itself, but for the thousands of individual lives forever changed that night.
A Family Remembered
Louise Laroche, Joseph and Juliette’s youngest daughter, went on to live for decades after the disaster. She died in 1998, making her one of the last surviving Titanic survivors at the time of her death.
More than a century later, the Laroche family’s story continues to draw attention, not simply because they were aboard the Titanic, but because their journey reflects a much larger story about race, class, immigration, family and the pursuit of a better life. Joseph Laroche boarded the Titanic hoping to return home to Haiti with his family. Instead, his life became permanently intertwined with one of history’s most famous maritime disasters, while his wife and daughters carried his memory forward for generations.
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