Joseph Laroche lived from 1886 to 1912. He was born in Haiti. He was
one of the few black people on the
Titanic
. At age 15, he studied in France.
He got an engineering degree. He married a French woman named Juliette
Lafargue. He had two daughters. He couldn’t find work due to the color
of his skin. In 1912, Juliette found out she was pregnant. This was their
third child. Laroche wanted to return to Haiti. So, he got tickets on the
Titanic
. He and his family boarded as second-class passengers. The ship hit
the iceberg. Laroche woke up his family. He put his pregnant wife and
two daughters on a lifeboat. His family survived. But he did not. He died
with the ship. His body was never found. His family returned to France.
The baby was named Joseph.
BACK STOR Y
S P O T L I G H T B I O G R A P H Y
FLASH FACT!
Margaret Tobin Brown is
called the “unsinkable
Molly Brown.” She was a
survivor. She wanted her
lifeboat to find more
survivors.
Vocabulary
third class
(THURD KLAS)
also known as steerage, the
cheapest way to travel
seamstress
(SEEM-stris) a person
who sews clothes
second class
(SEK-uhnd KLAS) the
way to travel for the middle class
first class
(FURST KLAS) the most
expensive and fanciest
way to travel
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