By The Tragic Voyage of Joseph Laroche: Aboard the Titanic
The Tragic Voyage of Joseph Laroche: Aboard the Titanic
​Joseph Phillipe Lemercier Laroche holds a unique place in history as the only passenger of known African ancestry who perished during the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic. His life, from a privileged upbringing to his untimely death, tells a story of ambition, family, and the struggles of racial prejudice in the early 20th century.
​Roots and Education in Haiti and France
​Laroche was born on May 26, 1889, in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. His heritage was notable; he was the son of a white French army captain and a Haitian woman who was a direct descendant of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the first ruler of independent Haiti. Growing up among the nation’s elite, Laroche was fluent in French and English.
​Driven by a desire for a technical career, he traveled to Beauvais, France, at the age of 15 for his training. He attended classes and successfully obtained his engineering certificate in 1907. His family’s connections were significant; his uncle, Dessalines M. Cincinnatus, served as the president of Haiti from 1911 to 1912.
​Family Life and Financial Hardship
​In 1908, Laroche married Juliette Marie Lafargue, the daughter of a widowed Parisian wine merchant. The couple soon had two daughters, Simonne and Marie Louise. Despite his qualifications, Laroche faced significant racial discrimination in France, making it extremely difficult to secure and maintain stable employment. This professional roadblock forced the young family to reside with Juliette’s father for support.
​Compounding their financial stress, their youngest daughter, Marie Louise, had ongoing medical issues. By 1912, with the family expecting their third child, Laroche made a decisive move: he planned to return to Haiti. He believed his prominent family’s political influence would ensure a lucrative engineering position there, offering his wife and children a better life.
​A Fateful Ticket Exchange
​Laroche’s mother initially sent the family tickets for a return voyage to Haiti aboard the French liner, La France. However, a strict policy on La France—which prohibited children from dining with their parents in the first-class dining room was unacceptable to Laroche.
​He opted to exchange their original first-class accommodations for second-class tickets aboard the new, magnificent White Star liner, the R.M.S. Titanic.
​The Titanic’s Maiden Voyage
​On April 10, 1912, Joseph Laroche, his pregnant wife Juliette, and their two young daughters boarded the Titanic from the harbor near Fort de l’Ouest. Sadly, their voyage was marred by the prejudice of the time. The family, particularly their interracial marriage, attracted stares and some insulting behavior from various crew members and fellow passengers.
​Joseph Laroche did not survive the ship’s tragic encounter with the iceberg. His body was never recovered. His wife, Juliette, and their daughters were saved. Following her return to Paris, she gave birth to their son, whom she named Joseph Lemercier Laroche, on December 17, 1912.
