Historical Portrait
Milo Schaaf (World War I, Tulare County)
Archive record
Historical portrait of Milo Schaaf, a World War I soldier from Tulare County, California, circa 1914. Public-domain photograph from historical archives.
About this photograph
This record shows Milo Schaaf, identified as a soldier from Tulare County during the First World War. The photograph is dated between 1914 and 1918, though the United States did not enter the war until April 1917.
Tulare County lies in California's San Joaquin Valley, a farming region built on irrigated agriculture and settled mainly in the late nineteenth century. The county library maintains a substantial local history photograph collection focused on ordinary residents rather than public figures.
Military portraits like this one became common after the United States entered the war. Studios photographed enlistees in uniform before they deployed, often producing the only formal portrait a young man would ever have made. Families kept copies at home while their sons were away. Local historical collections across the country hold many such photographs.
The record gives no information about Schaaf's service, unit, or whether he returned. The photographer is unknown. The photograph is held by the Internet Archive through California Revealed, a statewide digitisation programme that makes material from California libraries, archives, museums and historical societies publicly available online.
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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