Marshal Foch in San Francisco: A Hero’s Tree-Planting Legacy (1921)

Witness "Marshal Foch in San Francisco," a silent 1921 black-and-white newsreel capturing French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in World War I, arriving at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, California. On December 4, 1921, amidst a drizzly ceremony, Foch joins Mrs. A.B. Spreckels—Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, the palace’s visionary donor—for a tree-planting tribute in Lincoln Park. An intertitle declares: “San Francisco, Dec. 4, 1921. Marshal Foch… arrives at the Palace of the Legion of Honor to participate in the tree planting exercises.” Another frame notes: “Mrs. A.B. Spreckels, donor of the Palace of the Legion of Honor, with Marshal Foch,” as she wields a shovel beside the war hero. This fleeting reel enchants history buffs, silent film fans, and San Francisco heritage seekers, immortalizing a moment of honor and gratitude in a post-war world.