Northern Waterfront in San Francisco City and County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

White Angel

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, December 16, 2013

1. White Angel Marker

Inscription. It was westering and westering. And then the old men came to edge of the continent and saw they could go no further, they broke down and wept. Down and out on the waterfront in Frisco. The end of the line. Out of work. Out of food. And out of hope. San Francisco – at the end of the line – had always had more than its share of transient men, on the move, looking for work. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the sheer number of people without homes and without food overwhelmed the city’s many charities, as bread lines wound around the city blocks, and each day, soup kitchens fed one hot meal to thousands, who otherwise would not survive. Here at the foot of Telegraph Hill, from June 1931 through September 1933, one woman carried out her own plan to help. Her name was Lois Jordan, the soup kitchen she set up on Abe Reuff’s junk filled lot, bound by Embarcadero and Battery, between Filbert and Greenwich, became known as White Angel Jungle. “Seamen without ships, longshoremen with no cargo to load, railroad men out of jobs, carpenters with nothing to build... penniless and friendless in a big city, they

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have been fed, clothed and mothered by Mother Jordan.”
San Francisco Call, June 13, 1932

“What Does it Matter?” the hand-lettered banner read – “America’s One with the White Jungle.” Here many groups of men ate together at trestle tables; each bore a sign; “Seamen” “Lumber Jacks” “Railroad Men” “Truck Drivers” “Longshoremen”, and each table sported gallon-sized tin cans filled with garden flowers. “Mrs. Lois Jordan had petted them and scolded them, given them stamps and stationary, and bidden them write to wives, mothers, and sisters left behind in happier and more prosperous days. It is one of the sights of San Francisco to see Mother Jordan, clad in a snowy white uniform,, stand at the head of a line that forms twice a day for the wholesome, simple home-cooked food she dispenses.” San Francisco Call, June 13, 1932. In the beginning, she cooked in her kitchen at home and delivered food to the waterfront; later, she fed two hot meals a day to hundreds – food, clothing, and money were donated at her waterfront office-kitchen,

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, December 16, 2013

2. White Angel Marker

built by the men in the shape of a land-locked “rescue-boat” complete with bowsprit, masts and flag-bedecked rigging. The White Angel Jungle was not her only effort at direct help, she organized a free-farm for indigent families near Pleasanton, and when that effort collapsed in 1939, she operated the first and only community-owned grocery store at Hunters Point. Finally, she ran out of her own money, and the energy to raise funds from others. Lois Jordan died in the county hospital April 29, 1949.

On the face of the marker

While I turned my head that traveler I’d just passed melted into mist.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Charity & Public Work. A significant historical date for this entry is April 29, 1788.

Location. 37° 48.185′ N, 122° 24.077′ W. Marker is in San Francisco, California, in San Francisco City and County. It is in Northern Waterfront. It is on The Embarcadero near Battery Street, on the right when traveling south. The site of the White Angel Jungle in not Levi's Plaza. The marker is on The Embarcadero, opposite Pier 23. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: San Francisco

The White Angel Jungle image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Unknown

3. The White Angel Jungle

CA 94111, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on California’s Coast Ranges.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Gold Mountain (within shouting distance of this marker); Egg War of the Farallones (within shouting distance of this marker); Buried Ships (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Those Who Harvest the Sea (about 500 feet away); Belt Line Railroad (approx. 0.2 miles away); Down to the Sea in Ships (approx. 0.2 miles away); Discarded Treasure (approx. 0.2 miles away); Green Street (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San Francisco.

Also see . . . White Angel Breadline The story behind the picture - Art Edge. There was a real “White Angel” behind the breadline that served the needy men photographed by Dorothea Lange. She was a widow named Lois Jordan. Mrs. Jordan, who gave herself the name White Angel, established a soup kitchen during the Great Depression to feed those who were unemployed and destitute.

Levi's Plaza today image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, December 16, 2013

4. Levi's Plaza today

(Submitted on December 20, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)

Additional keywords. Depression

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 20, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 1,267 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 20, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.