Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche - Wikipedia

Haitian engineer, victim of the sinking of the RMS Titanic (1886–1912)

Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche
Joseph (seated right) and his family,prior to their voyage on the Titanic
Born	Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche(1886-05-26)26 May 1886Cap-Haïtien, Haiti
Died	15 April 1912(1912-04-15) (aged 25)Atlantic Ocean
Occupation	Engineer
Spouse	Juliette Lafargue
Children	3

Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche (French pronunciation: [ʒozɛffilipləmɛʁsjelaʁɔʃ]; 26 May 1886 – 15 April 1912) was a Haitian engineer. He was one of only three passengers of known Haitian ancestry (the other two being his children) on the ill-fated voyage of RMS Titanic.[1][2][3]

He put his pregnant French wife and their two daughters onto a lifeboat; they survived, but he did not.[1] Joseph's daughter, Louise Laroche (2 July 1910 – 28 January 1998) was one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of RMS Titanic.

LaRoche, a three-act opera by Atlanta composer Sharon J. Willis, is based on his life and was part of the 2003 National Black Arts Festival, premiering at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on July 18 of that year.[4][5]

Early life, family and education

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Joseph was born in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. When he was 15 years old, he was sent to Beauvais, France to study. After earning an engineering degree, he married a French woman named Juliette Lafargue.[1] Due to the racial discrimination of the times, however, he had difficulty finding work.[1] His daughter Simone Marie Anne Andrée Laroche was born in Paris, France, 1909;[6] followed by her sister, Louise Laroche, born on 2 July 1910. Tired of living off his father-in-law, a wine merchant, Joseph decided to return to Haiti with his growing family. His uncle, Cincinnatus Leconte, was the President of Haiti,[1] and he arranged a job for Joseph as a mathematics teacher.[7]

Voyage

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The family planned to leave France in late 1912, but Juliette discovered she was pregnant for a third time, and Joseph decided to hasten their travel arrangements so the child could be born in Haiti.[citation needed]

Joseph's mother purchased first class passage for the family aboard the liner SS France. The Laroches learned of the French Line's policy stipulating that children were required to remain in the nursery and were not permitted to dine with their parents. Disapproving of this policy, they exchanged their tickets for a second-class passage aboard RMS Titanic.[1][4][6]

Titanic was too large for the harbor at Cherbourg, France, so White Star Line tenders transported the passengers boarding from Cherbourg out to the ship aboard SS Nomadic.[6] The family boarded as second-class passengers on April 10, 1912.

Shortly after Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, Joseph woke his wife Juliette and told her that the ship had suffered an accident. He put all of their valuables in his pockets, and they carried their sleeping daughters to the ship's top deck. It is not known for sure which lifeboat Juliette and her daughters boarded, although Juliette remembered a countess being in her lifeboat.[citation needed] There was a countess, Noël Leslie, Countess of Rothes, on board the ship who escaped in lifeboat 8, so it is likely[speculation?] that Juliette, Simone and Louise all escaped aboard this lifeboat or perhaps lifeboat 14. Although Joseph died in the sinking of Titanic, his body was never recovered.[6]

Later in the morning of April 15, Juliette and her daughters were rescued by RMS Carpathia. The two girls were hauled onto the deck in burlap bags. Onboard Carpathia, Juliette found it very hard to get linens which she could use as diapers for her children. Since there were none to spare, Juliette improvised and at the end of each meal she would sit on napkins, conceal them and make diapers out of them after returning to the cabin.[6] Carpathia arrived in New York City on April 18. Since there was no one to meet Juliette and her daughters, Juliette decided not to continue to Haiti. Instead, she returned to her family in Villejuif, France. The family arrived the next month, and it was there that Juliette gave birth to her son whom she named Joseph, in honor of his father.[6]

Aftermath

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In March 1995, Joseph's daughter Louise stepped aboard Nomadic for the first time since 1912 when it carried her family to Titanic from Cherbourg, France. She was joined by fellow Titanic survivor Millvina Dean.[6] That same year, Louise was present as the Titanic Historical Society dedicated a stone marker in Cherbourg commemorating Titanic passengers who sailed from its port.[8]

Louise Laroche died on 28 January 1998 at the age of 87. At the time of her death only six Titanic survivors remained.

References

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1. ^ a b c d e f Hughes, Zondra (June 2000). "What Happened To The Only Black Family On The TITANIC". Ebony magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-01-23.
2. ^ "Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche" (2014) Encyclopedia Titanica (ref: #486, accessed 1 March 2014)
3. ^ Kent, W. Mae (17 September 2009). "Laroche, Joseph Phillipe Lemercier (1889-1912)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
4. ^ a b Gresham, Mark (July 17, 2003). "Women and children first". Creative Loafing. Atlanta.
5. ^ LaRoche. Atlanta magazine. July 2003. Retrieved February 18, 2003. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
6. ^ a b c d e f g "Miss Louise Laroche". Titanic Historical Society. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
7. ^ Villagomez, Carissa (2021-05-11). "The Story of Joseph Laroche, The Only Black Man on RMS Titanic". CourtTheatre.org. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
8. ^ Mendez, Olivier; "The last French Lady - Mademoiselle Louise Laroche, A Titanic survivor", The Titanic Commutator, Volume 19, number 2, 2nd quarter, August–October 1995, pp. 40—48

External links

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• Louise Laroche at Titanic1.org
• Miss Louise Laroche at Encyclopedia Titanica

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Officers	Edward J. Smith (Captain) Henry Tingle Wilde (Chief Officer) William McMaster Murdoch (First Officer) Charles H. Lightoller (Second Officer) Herbert Pitman (Third Officer) Joseph G. Boxhall (Fourth Officer) Harold G. Lowe (Fifth Officer) James Paul Moody (Sixth Officer) Hugh McElroy (Chief Purser) Joseph Bell (Chief Engineer)
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Monumentsand memorials	Australia Bandstand (Ballarat) United Kingdom Engine Room Heroes (Liverpool) Engineers (Southampton) Musicians (Southampton) Titanic (Belfast) Orchestra (Liverpool) United States Straus Park (New York City) Titanic (New York City) Titanic (Washington, D.C.) Butt–Millet Memorial Fountain (Washington, D.C.)
Popular culture(cultural legacy)	Books The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility (1898) A Night to Remember (1955) Polar the Titanic Bear (1995) Films Saved from the Titanic (1912) In Nacht und Eis (1912) La hantise (1912) Atlantic (1929) Atlantik (1929) Titanic (1943) Titanic (1953) A Night to Remember (1958) The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) Raise the Titanic (1980) Secrets of the Titanic (1986) Titanica (1992) Titanic (1997) The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1997) The Legend of the Titanic (1999) Titanic: The Legend Goes On (2000) The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg (2000) Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) Tentacolino (2004) Titanic II (2010) The Six (2021) Titanic 666 (2022) Unsinkable (2024) Television "A Night to Remember" (1956) S.O.S. Titanic (1979) Titanic: The Complete Story (1994) Titanic (1996 miniseries) No Greater Love (1996) "A Flight to Remember" (Futurama) (1999) "The Mutants Are Revolting" (Futurama) (2010) Titanic (2012 miniseries) Titanic: Blood and Steel (2012) Saving the Titanic (2012) Titanic: The Aftermath (2012) Theater The Berg (1929) The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1960 musical) Titanic (1974) Titanic (1997 musical) Music "The Titanic (It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down)" (folk song) The Sinking of the Titanic (music composition) Titanic (soundtrack album) Back to Titanic (soundtrack album) "My Heart Will Go On" (song) "Nearer, My God, to Thee" (song) Titanique (musical parody) "Dance Band on the Titanic" (song) "Titanic" (song) Titanic Requiem (music composition) "Tempest" (song) Titanic Rising (album) Video games Search for the Titanic (1989) Titanic: Adventure Out of Time (1996) Titanic: Honor and Glory (TBA) Other "The Convergence of the Twain" (1912 poem) The Sinking of the Titanic (1978 poem) Titanic: The Board Game (1998)
Museumsand exhibitions	SeaCity Museum (Southampton) Titanic Museum (Branson, Missouri) Titanic Museum (Pigeon Forge, Tennessee) Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (Halifax) Titanic Belfast
Places	Titanic (Canada) Titanic Canyon Titanic Quarter, Belfast Cape Race, Newfoundland Fairview Lawn Cemetery Mount Olivet Cemetery (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Arrol Gantry Titanic, Oklahoma
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