Conrad N. Hilton

(December 25, 1887 - January 3, 1979)

Being a product of a Norwegian immigrant father and a German-American mother, Conrad N. Hilton had a strong belief in the American Dream. His philosophy can be summarized by saying that he derived his strength from his faith in God, his belief in the brotherhood of man, his patriotic confidence in the United States of America, and his conviction that there is a natural law that obliges all mankind to help relieve the suffering, the distressed, and the destitute.

Conrad N. Hilton was educated at St. Michael's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico and the New Mexico School of Mines. However, he entered the hotel business by buying the Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas in 1919. He constructed his first hotel, the Dallas Hilton, which opened in August 2, 1925. At the same time as the construction of the Dallas Hilton, he married Mary Barron and had three children thereafter: Conrad N., Jr.; William Barron; and Eric Michael. He later had a fourth child, Francesca, with his second marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor.

At the time of the Depression, Conrad N. Hilton maintained operations by learning to work in a depressed economy. "He learned to operate with economy--one of the keys to his future success." (Baird, 1995) Therefore, he was able to expand his empire by purchasing other hotels throughout the United States, and they included: Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco; The Plaza in New York; the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York; the Stevens, currently known as the Chicago Hilton & Towers; and the Palmer House in Chicago. Furthermore, he developed his business internationally by building hotels outside the United States in such exotic locales as San Juan, Madrid, Istanbul, Havana, Berlin, and Cairo.

With the expansion of his business in the international arena, he staunchly believed in world peace and global economic stability. He vigorously opposed the spread of communism and used corporate advertising to promote world peace through international trade and travel. Furthermore, his concern for the public was heightened by the formation of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 1944.

The legacy of Conrad N. Hilton lives on via the Conrad Hilton Foundation that maintains large building pledge agreements to various religious, educational, and medical non-profit institutions. By 1972, the Hilton Foundation was instrumental in the construction of the Mayo Clinic to further the clinic's work "in the study of the human brain and human behavioral patterns." (Baird, 1995) The Hilton Foundation's importance is further heightened by its tremendous contribution totaling $200 million in grants to various entities. The foundation was also instrumental in the construction of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston. In 1995, grants have been awarded in the following areas: blindness, domestic violence, homelessness, addiction and substance abuse, brain research, and water development in Africa.

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