I’m sure he’s an American, but that’s all the context I can provide.
Offhand, I would say World War I. Or maybe Spanish-American War.
I am not so sure he’s American. Looks English, WW1.
One of the Harlem Hellfightersof WWI.
Do you have any basis for this wild guess? He’s wearing an American WWI uniform (M1912 coat and puttees).
Well, his upper lip did look stiff.
Looks like a good call to me. My first thought was WWI, but that’s as far as I was willing to conjecture.
This makes sense. Sounds like these men were so popular that people back then would’ve sold and collected their photos, which would explain why I inherited this one.
Why no I didn’t. Just a WAG.
Doughboy.
That’s just a guess right? There is no way to see if he is wearing the coiled snake patch and there certainly were other black units at the time. All I can see is a black soldier wearing a WWI era uniform. Is there a detail I missed?
He looks a lot like the dude in this article
Do you think it might be the M1910 uniform, with the turn-down collar rather than the stand-up of the 1912? The puttees do put it in WWI, certainly.
Maybe the belt and bag are French?
Perhaps that that man is actually in the group photo, on the bottom left. Looks like the same guy to me.
No, I just figured the Harlem Hellfighters were the most widely known black U.S. unit if WWI. The 92nd and 93rd infantry divisions were also black and/or integrated. I don’t see any identifying patches or insignias on his uniform. I’m not sure what the chain or cord is going from his right shoulder to front pocket. He’s almost certainly U.S. infantry WWI, though, which does limit the number of outfits he could have served with.
What’s the chain on his shoulder? Is it just a pocketwatch, or something else important?
Trench whistle?
I’ve also read that soldiers were issued with a lanyard for a pocket knife, but I would guess that was a belt lanyard?
What am I missing? What group photo?
To me, the biggest thing that says “WWI” are the boots or leggings he is wearing. The 2nd biggest is the overall tint of the photograph. It looks “modern” but pre-WWII.
The one at the bottom of the **History **section, I think.
