If you knew Sr. Mary Agnetis, you are aware that she was
born with a golden tongue to say nothing of a golden pen. One might also think she had more than a
passing brush with the Blarney Stone.
Today blogger will fulfill a promise made months ago that you would get
a little peek at her correspondence with Conrad Hilton. Chosen for this entry is part of her very
first letter to the storied magnate, March 1, 1955, and his response.
My dear Mr. Hilton,
How
do you do, Mr. Hilton. It’s nice seeing
you personally in your own office in the Town House. My name is Sister Mary Agnes [Sister’s nom de
plume when writing to Hilton], a teacher of teenage girls in Covington,
Kentucky. I’ve met you on two different
occasions, Mr. Hilton: the first time, on Monday, September 26, when you met
your admirers with your kindly satisfied Hiltonian Smile from the cover of
Newsweek—Texas to Instanbul, The World’s No. 1 host. What a magnificent record behind that
heartwarming title… Mr. Hilton, Do you
have time to reminisce a bit? Do take
the time. It’s relaxing. And God knows you need a little relaxation. Remember the day you strode into the lobby of
the Mobly Hotel in Cisco, Texas? How
men, haggard with strain were pounding on the reservation desk demanding rooms with
none to be had? How someone said you,
‘No use waiting around here, Mister, there just won’t be any room’? You saw the problem, Mr. Hilton, found the
solution and solved it admirably.”
Well, we can see where she was going with this, and perhaps he
did too. Sister went on for two plus more
pages describing the situation/condition at Fifth Street. Now for a glimpse at Hilton’s reply dated
March 9, 1955.
Dear Sister Mary Agnes:
I received your very interesting
letter of March 1st and I assure you that I did not look around for
the wastebasket when I read your letter.
As a matter of fact, I have read it several times and I congratulate you
on your talent. I think that I would be
willing to employ you, either as a salesman or a writer.
He went on to tell her that her request will be honored (no
specifics, of course) but not at the moment.
He enumerated some of the building projects that he had done or was in
the process of funding for other religious communities of women, besides
assisting people across the world. Not a
day passed when he did not get a request for monetary assistance. She was not to think of his letter as a
refusal, but as indication of a delay.
In the end, Conrad Hilton responded to Agnesian charm with a very
generous one third of the total price tag on the Hilton Drive construction of
1962-63. Naming the driveway to the
building is not only the least that the academy could have done, but stands as
a metaphor—we couldn’t have gotten to the new building when we did without Conrad
Hilton’s generosity.
It is to be noted that this correspondence was no momentary
phase that lasted only as long as was necessary. It endured for ten years and fills two large
loose-leaf binders, one of the many treasures in Notre Dame Academy’s Archives.
