Noble Maritime Collection presents Untold Stories of the Titanic: The Only Black Passenger, a virtual lecture by Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson
The Noble Maritime Collection will present Untold Stories of the Titanic: The Only Black Passenger, a free, virtual lecture by Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson, on Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 6 PM.
This lecture is part of the museum’s Noble on Watch (NOW) lecture and concert series. It is presented virtually on the museum’s Facebook page at facebook.com/noblemaritime and website at noblemaritime.org/now.
The sinking of the Titanic in April 1912 generated a plethora of books, films, and exhibitions. But the tragic story of Haitian engineer Joseph Laroche (1886-1912), his French wife, and their children and descendants has been largely excluded from history.
Born in Haiti in 1886, Mr. Laroche moved to France in 1901 to study engineering. There he met his wife, Juliette Lafargue (1889-1980). Racial discrimination prevented Laroche from maintaining a high-paying job in France. After the birth of their two daughters, and upon learning that they were expecting a third child, the family decided to return to Laroche’s native Haiti, where there would be more employment opportunities, via the Titanic.
In this lecture, Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson, Knafel Assistant Professor of the Humanities in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College, explores the unexplored aspect of race, and traces how Laroche’s story allows us to better understand the possibilities and limitations of black travel at the time of the Titanic tragedy.
Carter Jackson is currently working on a manuscript on this subject entitled “Losing Laroche: the Story of the Only Black Passenger on the Titanic.”
“When I first stumbled on Joseph Laroche, I was intrigued,” said museum Director of Programs Dawn Daniels. “To my dismay, my search for more information revealed little, and I felt compelled to find someone to tell his story. That's where Kellie Carter Jackson, Ph.D. comes in.”
Daniels continued, “A Laroche family historian entrusted Dr. Carter Jackson with every family letter, photograph, postcard, and newspaper clipping that still exists, and she uses these artifacts to weave together a fascinating account of his life. Her warm and scholarly style makes this lecture a joy to watch, and we at the museum are proud to present this rarely-told history as part of the NOW series.”
The Noble Maritime Collection's public programs are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and a Humanities New York CARES Grant with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the federal CARES Act.