Historical Portrait
Paul Allen (World War I, Tulare County)
Archive record
Public domain historical portrait of Paul Allen, a World War I soldier from Tulare County, California, photographed in 1914.
About this photograph
This portrait of Paul Allen, a soldier from Tulare County, was made in 1914, three years before the United States entered the First World War in April 1917.
Tulare County lies in California's San Joaquin Valley, a farming region whose growth relied on irrigated agriculture through the later nineteenth century. The county library maintains a local history photograph collection focused on ordinary residents rather than public figures.
The date presents a puzzle. American involvement in the war began in 1917, and local studios photographed many enlistees in uniform before they shipped out, often creating the only formal portrait a young man would ever sit for. Families kept copies at home. If Allen's portrait was indeed made in 1914, it would predate both American entry and the military build-up that followed. The record catalogues the date as 1914/1918, preserving uncertainty about when the photograph was actually taken.
The record identifies no photographer. California Revealed, the digitisation programme that brought this image into the archive, works with libraries and historical societies across the state, making local collections publicly available. Its tag indicates where material was digitised rather than where it originated.
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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