Almira Hershey

Almira Hershey (November 14, 1843 – March 6, 1930) was a civic leader, businesswoman, property developer, Hollywood hotel proprietor, and philanthropist.

[2] (Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, and Bryn Mawr were all established later, and older women’s colleges tended to be seminaries connected with religious institutions.)

The college also made provision for “the ornamental branches” of education that were the standard fare of women’s schools of the time—subjects like modern languages, music, art, needlework, and singing.

She purchased real estate on Bunker Hill and commissioned the building of a European-style mansion at 4th Street and Grand Avenue, which she occupied for ten years.

It was so successful that Mira Hershey had the hotel extended so that it took up the complete block on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Orchid Avenues.

A funeral service was held at Hollywood Cemetery Chapel under the auspices of the Humanist Society, of which Mira Hershey was a member.

However, Hershey’s lawyer knew UC Regent Edward Dickson, and visited his office in the late 1920s during early construction on the Westwood campus.

In the early 1920s, Mira Hershey served on the Advisory Board of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Los Angeles, founded by William Andrews Clark, Jr., who deeded his purpose-built library, the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, to the Southern Branch of the University of California in 1926.

In 1969, Mira Hershey hall became coed housing for graduate students, though only women were ever allowed to live in the original 1931 building.

Following seismic reinforcement, repairs, and upgrades, Mira Hershey Hall reopened for administrative uses in the Life Sciences in 2012.