So for this animatic, I wanted to focus on not so much the tragedy but simple moments. This is the story of Joseph Philippe Lemercier Larouche, the only black man on the Titanic. He, along with his pregnant wife and two daughters were traveling from France back to his home country Haiti. Joseph came from a affluent family (his uncle served as President of Haiti) and he studied to become an engineer. But due to racial discrimination, he was unable to obtain a job in France. As soon as he found his wife was pregnant, he decided to move back to Haiti for the baby to born in his own country and for better opportunities to support his family. When Joseph’s mother booked his passage on a French liner, he found out that the company wouldn’t allow children to eat with their parents. Disapproving of this policy, he traded his first class tickets for second class on board the Titanic.
On the night of the sinking, he brought his wife Juliette and two daughters, Simonne and Louise, up on deck with their pockets full of valuables, money and jewels. At one point, his wife and their daughter got separated while getting on the lifeboat. Frantic, she called out to her husband and their other daughter, and above the crowds, she saw Joseph lift Louise above his head to shield her from all the pushing and shoving from the crowd. He was struggling with the crewman to convince them that his daughter was separated from his mother on the lifeboat. Eventually Louise was safe in her mother’s arms as the lifeboat lowered into the Atlantic.
Joseph called out to his family over the panic crowds, “I’ll see you soon my darling! There will be enough room for everyone, go with the lifeboats,...look after the little ones,...see you soon!”
He was only 25 years old.