Historical Portrait
Recruit Cochran (World War I, Tulare County)
Archive record
Historical portrait of WWI military recruit Cochran from Tulare County, California, circa 1914. Public-domain photograph from World War I era archives.
About this photograph
The archive dates this portrait to 1914, but the United States did not enter the First World War until April 1917. The photograph more likely belongs to the 1917–1918 window, when Selective Service registered millions of men and local studios photographed enlistees in uniform before deployment. For many young men, these studio sittings produced the only formal portrait they would ever have. Families often kept copies at home.
Tulare County lies in California's San Joaquin Valley, a farming region built on irrigated agriculture and settled heavily in the late nineteenth century. The county library maintains a large local history photograph collection documenting ordinary residents rather than public figures.
The record identifies the subject only as Recruit Cochran from Tulare County. No further details about him appear in the available material.
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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