Historical Portrait
Howard Edwin May (World War I, Tulare County)
Archive record
Public domain historical photograph of Howard Edwin May, World War I soldier from Orosi, Tulare County, California, circa 1914.
About this photograph
Howard Edwin May was a World War I soldier from Orosi in Tulare County, California. The photograph dates from between 1914 and 1918.
The United States entered the First World War in April 1917. Local photography studios photographed enlistees in uniform before they departed, and these portraits were often made so a copy could remain at home. For many young men, such a sitting produced the only formal photograph they would ever have.
Tulare County sits in California's San Joaquin Valley, a farming region that developed through irrigated agriculture in the later nineteenth century. The county library maintains a large local history photograph collection focused on ordinary residents rather than public figures.
The record does not identify the photographer or studio that made the portrait. It gives no detail of May's service, unit, or what became of him. The photograph survives as part of the Tulare County collection and was digitised through California Revealed, a statewide programme that makes material from California libraries and historical societies publicly available.
Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.
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