He Was Haitian, The Only Black Man On The Titanic

Friday March 06, 2009 02:50 AM ET You've seen the movie TITANIC starring Leonardo DiCaprio but did you know? There was a Haitian man on the ship! His uncle was President of Republic of Haiti! Joseph Phillippe Lemercier Laroche was the only black man, a Haitian man, to perish in the Titanic; that's after he saved his wife and kids. Laroche was born in Cap Haitien, Haiti, on May 26, 1889. In the blockbuster film Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio's role could have easily been played by a Black man and it would have been historically accurate. In fact, the life story of Haitian native Joseph Phillippe Lemercier Laroche is far more intriguing than the movie's lead character, but no one knew of his existence until recently. The silence about the stranger-than-fiction life story of the Titanic's only Black passenger astonishes noted Titanic historian Judith Geller, author of Titanic: Women and Children First, who said, "It is strange that nowhere in the copious 1912 press descriptions of the ship and the interviews with the survivors was the presence of a Black family among the passengers ever mentioned." The story of this interracial family was not known until 2000, three years after the movie's release, when the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry and the Titanic Historical Society revealed the information as part of a Titanic exhibit. Joseph Laroche was born into a powerful family. His uncle, Dessalines M. Cincinnatus Leconte, was the president of Haiti. When Joseph Phillippe Lemercier was fifteen, he left Haiti to study engineering in Beauvais, France. Several years later, he met Juliette Lafargue, the 22-year-old daughter of a local wine seller. The two eventually married. Despite having an engineering degree, Joseph's skin color left him unable to find employment in France. The Laroches decided to return to Haiti and booked second-class reservations on the Titanic. After the ship struck an iceberg, Joseph loaded his wife and children onto a lifeboat and he went down with the ship. His body was never recovered. Shortly before Christmas of that year, Juliette Laroche gave birth to their son, Joseph Laroche Jr. Juliette never remarried. Read: What Happened To The Only Black Family On The TITANIC Thank you, Lindsay Firmin, for this info. Email | Permalink REPLY to this article | 15 Comments Share this: Twitter  Facebook  More Also read these articles The Haiti Earthquake Conspiracy You Probably Heard About? GID Sitwayen - A Haiti Citizen Training Guide - FREE Download Haitian Woman Wins $105 Mega Million Jackpot, Her Money Problems Just Got Started! VIDEO: Justin Beiber Discovers A Gifted Haitian Talent Liar Liar... What Is The BIGGEST Lie You Ever Told?   Reader Comments (15) Carli says: Re: He Was Haitian, The Only Black Man On The Titanic I don't think this family was intentionally left out of Black History books, scholars just didn't know. Now someone from the Titanic Assoc. probably did know or this picture would've never been revealed when it was. Someone probably held on to it. Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Marlie Alberts says: Re: He Was Haitian, The Only Black Man On The Titanic I am the Great Great Grand daughter of Joseph Phillippe Lemercier LaRoche. I have doing this research for some time & found out that my father never took his father's last name LaRoche. I am my father are the only two in our family that look carbin copy to him. I visited in 2001 his daughter-in-law in Villejuif, France with a translator because I could only speak english. I am full Haitian raised in California. I have orignal photo's of the LaRoche Family, Joseph, Juilet, Simonne & Louise. You can google me Marlie Alberts & find me on Facebook. Thank you M.Alberts (formally Marjorie Richard) Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Margaret says: Re: He Was Haitian, The Only Black Man On The Titanic The truth will always set u free. we are very powerfull&intelligent people Also bless being billingual!yeah noto mention the very [1rt] black nation to gain their Independance on 1804 if only we were togheter Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Martee says: Re: He Was Haitian, The Only Black Man On The Titanic How interesting ! Was the photo of his family? Was there any backlash because his family were white?? Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Cameau says: Re: He Was Haitian, The Only Black Man On The Titanic Funny! How they constantly try to hide the heroics, and development of the Haitian nation in history. The thruth will never remain silent. There's also two sides to every story! Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Lookan Kane says: Re: He Was Haitian, The Only Black Man On The Titanic First of all, I'd like to thank the author and secondly, CaRiMi, guys, you will always be my favorite band and I will always keep you in my mind. You're the best, because of you a lot of people know about this huge historical information. Keep it up! Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Rose says: Re: He Was Haitian, The Only Black Man On The Titanic We are a great people Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Janet G. says: Re: He Was Haitian The Only Black Man On The Titanic This is a very interesting revelation.Not only was Mr. Laroche the only Black man on the Titanic, he was also the only nephew of a president on board. Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Dee Dee says: Re: He Was Haitian The Only Black Man On The Titanic I never knee that..What an interesting fact... Makes you think about what else about black history has been left out of history books, etc on purpose. Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Richard M Joseph Iii says: Re: He Was Haitian The Only Black Man On The Titanic Heroic Haitian figure! I never would have thought there was a (black) Haitian man on the Titanic when it sunk. Tweet this, share it on Facebook, More REPLY   Showing 1 - 10 of 15 comments | Read More Comments » Leave your comment Name (required) E-mail (will not be published) (required)   <<   Enter code « Back To Main Newer post: When was the last time you had fun in Haiti Older post: Denzel Washington, Eddy Murphy, and Will Smith are of Haitian decent?

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