Last will and testament

When Conrad N. Hilton died in 1979, he left nearly all of his estate to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

The Foundation's work today is guided by intentions expressed in Conrad Hilton's last will and testament. Our strategic initiatives and major programs reflect many of his deepest concerns. Like our founder, we are determined to succeed. This requires investing in innovative approaches, forging strong partnerships, measuring progress, sharing knowledge, and building on successes.

Excerpts from Conrad Hilton's last will

To the Directors and Trustees of the said Conrad N. Hilton Foundation I bequeath some cherished conclusions formed during a lifetime of observation, study, and contemplation:

There is a natural law, a Divine law, that obliges you and me to relieve the suffering, the distressed, and the destitute. Charity is a supreme virtue, and the great channel through which the mercy of God is passed on to mankind. It is the virtue that unites men and inspires their noblest efforts.

Love one another, for that is the whole law; so our fellow men deserve to be loved and encouraged—never to be abandoned to wander alone in poverty and darkness. The practice of charity will bind us—will bind all men in one great brotherhood.

As the funds you will expend have come from many places in the world, so let there be no territorial, religious, or color restrictions on your benefactions, but beware of organized, professional charities with high-salaried executives and a heavy ratio of expense.

Be ever watchful for the opportunity to shelter little children with the umbrella of your charity; be generous to their schools, their hospitals, and their places of worship. For, as they must bear the burdens of our mistakes, so are they in their innocence the repositories of our hopes for the upward progress of humanity. Give aid to their protectors and defenders, the Sisters, who devote their love and life's work for the good of mankind, for they appeal especially to me as being deserving of help from the Foundation.