10 April 1912. On that day, the most modern ship of its time was leaving Southampton, England for its maiden voyage. There were 2001 people on the RMS Titanic ship going to New York. Four days later, the ship collided with an iceberg in the northern Andhra ocean. Then a heartbreaking incident happened.

The story of the Titanic has been told countless times and in many ways. From newspaper reports of the time to Leonardo DiCaprio's Hollywood film – much has been written and shown about the accident.

But the story of one of the nearly 1,500 people who lost their lives in this accident was almost overshadowed for a long time. But a sociologist went to a museum in Liverpool. And his eyes fell on this story.

Who were those travelers, where were they going?

His name was Joseph Philippe Lemercier LaRoche. He was the only black person on the Titanic's maiden voyage. Evidence documents are available to prove this.

LaRoche was born in 1886 in Cap Haitien, Haiti. He was the great-grandson of Haiti's first emperor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Dessalines led Haiti's struggle for independence against French colonial rule.

LaRoche grew up in a distinguished and wealthy family. At the age of 15, he went to France with a teacher. His aim was to study engineering in a university there.

About 11 years after arriving in France, LaRoche died in the Titanic disaster.

How did you know his story?

Credit goes to Dr. Charlotte Norwoodle for bringing LaRoche's long-suppressed story to light. She came to know about this one day during a visit to the Maritime Museum in Liverpool.

Born in Washington DC, Norwood then began work on LaRoche's life. Two years ago, she wrote and directed a play on LaRoche.

According to Norwood, LaRoche arrived in France in 1901. At that time, it had been almost 50 years since slavery had been abolished in the French colonies. After reaching France, he studied at the University of Beauvais near Paris and became an engineer.

In the early 1900s in France, any black person had to face great discrimination. At that time, people in France really believed that 'black people have tails'.

This is why he had to face a lot of stress and discrimination there.

At the same time, he met a girl named Juliet Lafargue. Juliet was a white French woman. Later they got married. At that time, it was not common for a white person to have an affair with a black person. However, Juliet was also supported by her family at that time.

While in France, two daughters were born to them. Their names were Simone Marie Anne Andre LaRoche and Louise LaRoche. Simon was born in 1909 and Louise was born in 1910.

However, after some time, LaRoche planned to return to Haiti with his family. The main reason for this was gender discrimination. Because he was black, LaRoche had a hard time getting a job even though he earned a degree.

Even if he got a job, he was often fired. He had to face sexual abuse even during his job.

His family planned to leave France at the end of 1912. They were soon to give birth to their third child. He wanted to return home immediately, while Juliet wanted to stay in France.

At that time, the president of Haiti and Joseph's uncle, Cincinnatus Leconte, arranged a job for him as a math teacher. Then they returned to Haiti with their families.

How did this family get on the Titanic?

After leaving France, LaRoche's mother sent first class tickets for the family on the SS France. However, on the SS France it was a rule that children were not allowed to sit and eat with them. Then they exchanged that first class ticket for Titanic's second class ticket.

They had to embark from the port of Cherbourg in France. But Titanic could not come to the harbor because it was too big. Therefore, the passengers who boarded from Cherbourg were taken to the Titanic by a small ship named SS Nomadic.

At that time there was a problem with that small ship and they almost escaped from the Titanic.

What happened the night the Titanic sank?

On April 14, 1912, at around 11:40 p.m., the Titanic hit an iceberg. They were sleeping at that time.

Laroche hurriedly picked up his wife, Juliet. Both of them collected some valuable items. Carrying his sleeping daughters in his arms, he reached the topmost deck of the ship.

By morning, he took Juliet and the two children to where the lifeboats were.

But then what happened to LaRoche? It was never discovered. So much so that even his body was not found.