Conrad Hilton

Conrad Nicholson Hilton (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American hotelier and founder of the Hilton Hotels chain.

Background

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Conrad Nicholson Hilton was born in a primitive adobe dwelling on Christmas Day, 1887, in San Antonio, New Mexico Territory, to Augustus Halvorson Hilton (1854–1919) an immigrant from Norway and Mary Genevieve Laufersweiler (1861–1947), an American with German roots.^[1]

One of seven children, as a young boy working at his father's general store he developed entrepreneurial skills that would guide him for a lifetime. His first hotel purchase was the 40-room Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas, in 1919.

The most enduring influence to shape Mr. Hilton's philanthropic philosophy beyond that of his parents was the Roman Catholic Church and its Sisters. He credits his mother, Mary, with guiding him to prayer and the Church whenever he was troubled or dismayed — from a boyhood loss of a beloved pony to severe financial losses during the Great Depression. His mother continually reminded him that prayer was the best investment he would ever make.^[2]

Conrad Hilton was educated at the New Mexico Military Institute, at St. Michael's College (now the College of Santa Fe), and at the New Mexico School of Mines (now New Mexico Tech). In his early twenties, he was a Republican representative in the first legislature of the newly formed State of New Mexico. In college, Conrad Hilton was a member of the international fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Shortly after the United States entered World War I in 1917, Conrad Hilton enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to Officers' Training Command, Presidio of San Francisco. Second Lieutenant Hilton arrived in France, February 14, 1918. His unit, the 304th Labor Battalion, saw limited combat. Conrad Hilton was discharged at Camp Dix (now Fort Dix), New Jersey on February 11, 1919. While Conrad was in the army, his father Gus was killed in a car accident.

Career

In concert with his father, Conrad Hilton had helped build up an inn as well as a general store in Socorro County, New Mexico, but he then moved to Texas. He entered the hotel business by buying the Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas, in 1919. He went on to buy hotels throughout Texas. The first high rise hotel he built was the Dallas Hilton, which opened in 1925. This was followed by the Abilene Hilton in 1927, Waco Hilton in 1928, and El Paso Hilton in 1930. He built his first hotel outside of Texas in 1939 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is today known as the the Andaluz Hotel. He formed the Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1946 followed by Hilton International Company in 1948. The company expanded into credit cards (Carte Blanche), car rentals, and other travel services.

During the Great Depression Hilton was nearly forced into bankruptcy and lost several of his hotels. He was retained as manager, however, and eventually bought them back. During the post-war period, the 1950s and 1960s, Hilton Hotels' worldwide expansion facilitated both American tourism and overseas business by United States corporations. At the same time it promulgated a certain worldwide standard for hotel accommodations. It was the world's first international hotel chain. Conrad Hilton's autobiography, Be My Guest,^[3] was published in 1957 by Prentice Hall. A copy of the book is placed in every Hilton Hotel room. In 1966 Conrad Hilton was succeeded as president by his son Barron and was elected chairman of the board.

Personal life

Hilton had three wives and four children:

• Mary Adelaide Barron (1906–1966): Conrad Hilton and Barron married in 1925 and divorced in 1934. They had three sons: Conrad Nicholson "Nicky" Hilton, Jr. (1926–1969) (first husband of Elizabeth Taylor), William Barron Hilton (1927– ), and Eric Michael Hilton (1933– )
• Zsa Zsa Gabor: Conrad Hilton and Gabor married in 1942 and divorced in 1946. They had one daughter, Constance Francesca Hilton (1947–), who is the only child born to any of the famous Gabor sisters. According to Gabor's book, One Lifetime Is Not Enough, her pregnancy resulted from her being raped by Conrad Hilton.
• Mary Frances Kelly: Conrad Hilton and Kelly married 1976 and she became his widow in 1979.

The seven siblings of Conrad Hilton were:

• Felice A. Hilton (December 6, 1885 – February 12, 1968)
• Eva C. Hilton (December 29, 1889 – 1979)
• Carl H. Hilton (January, 1892 – 1957)
• Julian Hilton (1895 – 1897)
• Rosemary J. Hilton (June 20, 1898 – November 27, 1995)
• August H. Hilton (1901 – 1929)
• Helen A. Hilton (January 30, 1906 – February 22, 2003)

Conrad Hilton died on January 3, 1979, in Santa Monica, California at age 91 from natural causes. He is interred at Calvary Hill Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery in Dallas, Texas. He left US$500,000 each to two of his surviving siblings and US$10,000 to each of his nieces and nephews and his daughter Francesca. The bulk of his estate was left to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, which he established in 1944.

Conrad's son, Barron, contested the will, which resulted in a negotiated settlement with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 1989. Under the settlement the parties agreed to divide the disputed shares of stock into three parts: Barron Hilton would receive 4 million shares, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation would receive 3.5 million shares, and the remaining 6 million shares would be placed in the W. Barron Hilton Charitable Remainder Unitrust. Upon Barron Hilton's death, Unitrust assets will be transferred to the Hilton Foundation.

Conrad Hilton was the great-grandfather of socialites Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton.^[4] There are currently two members of the Hilton family named Conrad. One is Paris' younger brother, Conrad Hughes Hilton, the son of Richard Hilton. The other is Conrad Nicholson Hilton III, son of Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Jr.

Legacy

• The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was established in 1944 by Conrad N. Hilton. It's mission is the alleviation of human suffering worldwide.
• Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize created in 1996 by The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
• The Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston is named after Conrad Hilton,
• The Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Business Ethics, The Hilton Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, and the Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship at the College of Business Administration Loyola Marymount University

In popular culture

Conrad Hilton, played by Chelcie Ross, appears in season three of the AMC television series Mad Men. He enlists series protagonist Don Draper to deliver an advertising campaign for Hilton Hotels.^[5]

Quotations

• "Success seems to be connected to action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."
• "If you are 100% occupied, you are not charging enough rent."
• "I like the tumult of life. I like its problems, its ever changing stresses."

Autobiographies

• Be My Guest, Autobiography of Conrad Hilton (Prentice- Hall, Inc. 1958)
• Inspirations of an Innkeeper (Conrad N. Hilton. 1963)

References

Other sources

• Dabney, Thomas Ewing The Man Who Bought the Waldorf: The Life of Conrad N. Hilton (Duell Sloan & Pearce; 1950)
• Bolton, Whitney The silver spade; the Conrad Hilton story. With a foreword by Conrad Hilton (New York: Farrar, Straus and Young; 1954)
• Comfort, Mildred Houghton Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier (Minneapolis: T.S. Denison & Company, Inc., 1965)
• Oppenheimer, Jerry House of Hilton: From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power, and Privilege (Three Rivers Press. 2007)
• Alef, Daniel Conrad N. Hilton: Reveled in Hotel Deals (Titans of Fortune Publishing. 2009)

External links

• Biographical Essay by Cathleen Baird (2004) (PDF, 24 pages)
• Conrad N. Hilton College at University of Houston
• Conrad Hilton's Secret of Success
• Conrad Hilton, Collector of Hotels (New York Times Magazine, 1949)
• Innkeeper to the World (TIME, 1963)
• The Key Man (TIME, 1949)
• Waldorf-Astoria as Hotels No. 16 (TIME, 1949)
• Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
• Conrad Hilton at Find a Grave
• Mad Men: See the Real Conrad Hilton - image slideshow by Life magazine