Brigadier General Harold L Clark (September 28, 1893August 23, 1973) was an architect and career

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

officer, who designed Randolph Air Force Base. Clark was born in

Stillwater, Minnesota Stillwater is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), S ...

, and educated at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. Clark had a civilian background in architecture. He initially enlisted in the reserves of the

Signal Corps A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army. Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...

of the United States army. He rose to 1st lieutenant after later enlisting in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

, assigned to

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-use airport, Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he ...

. When plans were announced to build a new Air Corps training facility, Clark designed his vision of an Air City in 1928. He submitted his drawings to Brigadier General Frank P. Lahm, who was sufficiently impressed to have Clark detailed to work for him as

Randolph Air Force Base Randolph Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Bexar County, Texas, ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio). Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the United ...

was built. His design of the

Administration Building Administration Building may refer to: Canada Saskatchewan *Administration Building, University of Saskatchewan United States California * Administration Building, Treasure Island, Treasure Island, California * Atascadero Administration Buildi ...

became known as the Taj Mahal and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1987. The Randolph Field Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. His drawings for the base were donated to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. Clark served at various U.S. Air Force installations over the next two decades, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

became commander of

52nd Troop Carrier Wing The 52d Troop Carrier Wing (52 TCW) is a disbanded unit of the United States Air Force. It was last assigned to the New York Air National Guard (NY ANG) as the 52d Fighter Wing, being stationed at Westchester County Airport, New York. It was ina ...

, Army Air Base at

Pope Field Pope Field is a U.S. military facility located northwest of the central business district of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Fayetteville, in Spring Lake, North Carolina, Spring Lake, Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States.. Federal A ...

in North Carolina, and the Troop Carrier Wing in the North African Theater of Operations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Harold L. 1893 births 1973 deaths People from Stillwater, Minnesota University of Minnesota alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Air Force generals United States Army reservists Military personnel from Minnesota