Did you know there were Black passengers on the ship? A True Life Story:
On April 10,1912, The Royal Mail Ship (RMS), Titanic set sail across the Atlantic on its first voyage from Southampton, England to New York City. At 52,310 tons, the Titanic was the largest passenger ship the ship the world had ever seen. There were several prominent and wealthy people on board in the ship including, John Jacob Astor IV, who widely believed to have been the richest man in the world at the time of his death.
The Titanic made two stops in France and Ireland before sinking on April 15, 1912. The day before, the ship’s starboard side had scraped along an iceberg which tore into 6 of the ship’s compartments in the brief of 10 seconds impact, allowing water to pour into the ship at a much faster rate that the ship’s pumps could handle.
1500 people died out of the 2200 people on the ship, 1300 of whom were passengers.
The Titanic was one of the most Famous tragedies in modern history, but did you know that there was at least one black family on the Titanic?
Joseph Laroche was born in Haiti to a prominent Haitian Family. In 1908 he got married to Juliette Lafargue, a French woman. Laroche, his wife Juliette who was pregnant with their third child at the time and their two daughters, Simonne and Louise, were second- class passengers on the Titanic, Although Laroche did not survive, his family did, after he had ensured they were placed in lifeboats.
Little has been written written about Laroche’s family in survivor account of sinking.
Even the 1912 Press failed to mention the presence of black passengers.
However, French researcher, Oliver Mendez, discovered Laroche’s family when he met with Louise Laroche on the 1990’s. Louise had being part of the Titanic Historical Society for years but because he could only speak French, details about her family was unknown until Mendez who was fluent in French met with her.
Joseph Laroche, his wife, Juliette and their two daughters in Paris,1911
