Historical Portrait
Roy Clifford Archer (World War I, Tulare County)
Archive record
Historical portrait of Roy Clifford Archer from Dinuba, Tulare County, California, circa 1914. Public domain World War I era photograph from archive collection.
About this photograph
Roy Clifford Archer of Dinuba, photographed around 1914. The record dates the image between 1914 and 1918, spanning the years before and during American involvement in the First World War.
The United States entered the war in April 1917. As Selective Service registration began, local studios photographed many enlistees in uniform before they departed. For numerous young men these portraits were the only formal photographs ever made of them, often taken so that a copy could remain at home with family.
Dinuba is in Tulare County, which lies in California's San Joaquin Valley. The region was settled heavily in the late nineteenth century and became dependent on irrigated agriculture. The county library maintains a large local history photograph collection, focused primarily on ordinary residents, families, schools and local businesses rather than prominent public figures.
The photograph entered this archive through California Revealed, a statewide programme that digitises material from California libraries, archives, museums and historical societies. Because the programme works with many separate local institutions, items sharing that source come from across the state.
The photographer is not recorded.
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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