On April 12, 1912, the RMS Titanic sunk in the Atlantic Ocean and among the tragedy’s victims was the only Black passenger on the ship. 

Four days after setting sail, the ship many called “unsinkable, struck an iceberg south of Newfoundland, Canada. 

This tragedy has been told in numerous Hollywood adaptations, including A Night to Remember, Saving the Titanic and the Academy Award-winning film Titanic. 

Although the tale is brought to life through Hollywood creatives’ lens, the story of the ship’s only Black passenger is not often told. 

Joseph Laroche, born in Haiti, was traveling on the ship with his wife Juliette and two young daughters. 

According to Travel Noire, Laroche studied engineering in France and met his wife, the daughter of a wine seller. After graduation, he struggled to find a well-paying job due to racial discrimination. 

Laroche and his wife decided to move their family to Haiti to find better employment. 

They were set to travel on a French steamship but changed their tickets for second-class seats on the Titanic to arrive in Haiti earlier. 

When the Titanic began to sink, Laroche led his wife and daughters to the lifeboat, but he did not get on. 

He died at the age of 25 with thousands of others who drowned or froze to death in the Atlantic Ocean and his body was never recovered. 

His wife and two daughters, Simonne and Louise, returned to France and she gave birth to a son she named Joseph Jr. 

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Racial discrimination followed Laroche’s children throughout their lives and they hid their father’s identity to avoid persecution from Nazis.