William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

A small fire in his residence in 1923 prompted William Andrews Clark Jr. to build a fireproof library to house his growing collection. Upon completion in 1926, Clark promised the library and grounds to UCLA after his death. When Clark died in 1934, his gift became UCLA’s first major bequest. He stipulated that it be named not after himself, but his father, who’d passed away in 1925. Clark acquired the majority of the library’s Oscar Wilde collection from Dulau and Company, London, in 1929, materials that had belonged to Wilde’s literary executor, bibliographer, and only surviving son. Today it houses the world’s largest repository of materials related to Oscar Wilde. Clark also founded the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1919 and was its sole financier for 15 years.