George Hilton (historian)

George Woodman Hilton (January 18, 1925 – August 4, 2014) was a United States historian and economist, who specialized in social history, transportation economics, regulation by commission, the history of economic thought and labor history.^[1]

George W. Hilton
Born	(1925-01-18)January 18, 1925 Chicago, Illinois
Died	August 4, 2014(2014-08-04) (aged 89) Columbia, Maryland
Nationality	American
Academic career
Field	Historian and economist
Institution	UCLA
Alma mater	University of Chicago London School of Economics Dartmouth College

Early life and education

Born in Chicago,^[2] Hilton attended Dartmouth College and earned his BA in Economics summa cum laude in 1946. He obtained his MA in 1950. Hilton attended the London School of Economics in 1953–1955, and obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1956.

Career

He then taught for many years at the University of California, Los Angeles, and was later a Professor Emeritus of Economics at UCLA.^[3] He served as the Acting Curator of Rail Transportation at the Smithsonian Institution from July 1968 through June 1969. He died of heart disease in 2014, aged 89.^[4]

Publications

Books

• Hilton, G. W. (1954) Cable railways of Chicago, Electric Railway Historical Society.
• Hilton, G. W. (1960) The truck system including a history of the British truck acts 1465–1960^[5]
• Hilton, George W. & Due, John Fitzgerald (1960). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4014-2. OCLC 237973.^[6]
• Hilton, George W. (2003) [1962]. The Great Lakes car ferries. Davenport, Iowa: Montevallo Historical Press. ISBN 0-9658624-3-7. OCLC 61225777.^[7]
• Hilton, G. W. (1963) The Ma and Pa: A History of the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad. Howell-North Books (Second edition, 1980; revised, 1999, The Johns Hopkins University Press)^[8]
• Hilton, G. W. (1964) The Staten Island Ferry, Howell-North Books, First edition.
• Hilton, G. W. (1968) The Night Boat, Howell-North Books, First edition.
• Hilton, G. W. (1969) The Transportation Act of 1958: A decade of experience, Indiana University Press, First edition.^[9]
• Hilton, G. W. (1971) The Cable Car in America (Revised edition, 1982)^[10]
• Hilton, G. W. (1974) Federal Transit Subsidies: The Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Program. (AEI) ^{[permanent dead link‍][11]}
• Hilton, G. W. (1975) The Northeast railroad problem (AEI)] Pdf.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• Hilton, G. W.; Jobe, Joseph and Plummer, Russell (1976) The illustrated history of paddle steamers Two Continents Publishing Group.
• Hilton, G. W. (1976) "What did we give wp with the big red cars?" (article) Archived 2007-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Hilton, George W. (1980). Amtrak: The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (PDF). Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. ISBN 0-8447-3369-5. OCLC 5777023.
• Hilton, G. W. (1987) Monon Route, Howell-North.^[12]
• Hilton, George W. (1997) [1990]. American narrow gauge railroads. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1731-1. OCLC 20418057.^[13]
• Hilton, G. W. (1995) The annotated baseball stories of Ring W. Lardner, 1914–1919 Stanford University Press, First edition.^[14]
• Hilton, G. W. (1995) Eastland: legacy of the Titanic Stanford University Press.^[15]
• Hilton, George Woodman (1997). The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway. Montevallo, Ala.: Montevallo Historical Press. ISBN 0-9658624-0-2. OCLC 37898677.
• Hilton, G. W. (1997) Nellie Farren, Sir Arthur Sullivan Society.
• Hilton, George Woodman (2002). Lake Michigan passenger steamers. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4240-5. OCLC 49942913.^[16]
• Hilton, G. W. (2002) Lake Michigan passenger steamers, Stanford University Press.
• Hilton, G. W. (2002) editor, The Front Page: From Theater to Reality, Hanover: Smith and Kraus, Inc.

Selected chapters and journal articles

• Hilton, George W. (1957). "The British Truck System in the Nineteenth Century". Journal of Political Economy. 65 (3): 237–256. doi:10.1086/257922. ISSN 0022-3808. JSTOR 1833293. S2CID 146597493.
• Hilton, G. W. (April 1958). "The truck act of 1831". The Economic History Review. 10 (3): 470–479. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1958.tb00020.x.
• Hilton, G. W. (1959), "The theory of tax incidence applied to the gains of labor unions", in Abramovitz, Moses; et al. (eds.), The allocation of economic resources: essays in honor of Bernard Francis Haley, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, OCLC 490147128. ISBN 9780804705684
• Hilton, George W. (1962). "The Decline of Railroad Commutation". The Business History Review. 36 (2): 171–187. doi:10.2307/3111454. ISSN 0007-6805. JSTOR 3111454. S2CID 155828018.
• Hilton, George W. (1963). "Public Policy Toward the Extinction of the Railroads". Transportation Journal. 3 (2): 17–26. ISSN 0041-1612. JSTOR 20711898.
• Hilton, George W. (July 1969). "Transport technology and the urban pattern". Journal of Contemporary History. 4 (3): 123–135. doi:10.1177/002200946900400308. ISSN 0022-0094. S2CID 162286809.
• Hilton, George W. (1972). "The Basic Behavior of Regulatory Commissions". The American Economic Review. 62 (1/2): 47–54. ISSN 0002-8282. JSTOR 1821523.
• Hilton, George W. (1983-08-01). "The role of government in emergency transportation planning". Energy. Energy use in Transportation Contingency Planning. 8 (8–9): 581–588. doi:10.1016/0360-5442(83)90025-7. ISSN 0360-5442.

Articles and comments

Published in Trains Magazine, 1945–1993:

• Pere Marquette, August 1945 issue, pages 7–21
• Tennessee Central, January 1946 issue, pages 8–15
• Meets All Trains, August 1946 issue, pages 48–49
• Carquinez Train Ferries, August 1946 issue, pages 36–39
• Where 19th Century Carferries Float On, March 1965 issue, pages 24–27
• What Does Manx Mean?, September 1966 issue, pages 24–27
• What Went Wrong and What to Do About It, January 1967 issue, pages 36–45
• Muckraking in a Day Coach, June 1968 issue, pages 48–50
• The Promise of Promontory, May 1969 issue, pages 20–28
• What Was Grand About Grand Central, September 1969 issue, pages 20–28
• Ralph in the Roundhouse, November 1970 issue, pages 44–47
• Please, No Hero for the North Western, January 1971 issue, pages 27–28
• Integration in the North, July 1971 issue, pages 36–43
• The View of the Viaduct from in Front of the Diner, May 1972 issue, pages 20–25
• What Does the ICC Cost You and Me?, October 1972 issue, pages 24–28
• Turntable: Good News from the Lehigh Valley, August 1973 issue, page 58
• Department-Store Mural, March 1974 issue, page 43
• Why Pre-Electronic Railroading Survives, May 1974 issue, pages 20–24
• Turntable: Railfanning as Education, November 1974 issue, page 66
• Great Lakes Car Ferries: An Endangered Species, January 1975 issue, pages 42–51
• Turntable: The View from Middle Age, November 1975 issue, page 82
• Slack, February 1976 issue, pages 22–28
• What Does the ICC Cost You and Me? Currently, That Is, June 1978 issue, pages 28–32
• The One Best Place to Watch Trains, December 1980 issue, pages 28–38
• Turntable: Infran-canin-ophilia, March 1983 issue, page 66
• Turntable: Railfanning without Railroads, September 1984 issue, page 70
• Turntable: Is Railroading Worth a Lifetime?, February 1985 issue, page 70
• Turntable: In Praise of the Unbuilt, February 1986 issue, page 70
• Turntable: What Should Be Preserved from the ICC, November 1987 issue, page 90
• Perspectives: The Trains Were in Transition, and It Was a Fascinating Railroad Business, November 1990 issue, pages 82–83
• ABCs of Railroading: A History of Track Gauge, September 1992 issue, pages 23–24
• Regrets from Early Youth, July 1993 issue, page 76

References

1. Lester, David C. (7 August 2014). "Transportation historian George W. Hilton dies". Trains. Kalmbach Publishing.
2. Simmons-Boardman (1971). Who's who in railroading and rail transit. New York: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. p. 188. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
3. faculty page at UCLA Archived 2015-11-03 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 9, 2013.
4. Rasmussen, Frederick N.; Baltimore, Sun (13 August 2014). "George W. Hilton, professor and author of history of 'Ma & Pa' railroad, dies at 89". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings LLC. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
5. Reviews:

   • Robertson, D. J. (1961). "Review of The Truck System, Including a History of the British Truck Acts, 1465-1960". Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 15 (1): 136–137. doi:10.2307/2519616. ISSN 0019-7939. JSTOR 2519616.
   • Saville, John (December 1961). "Review of The truck system including a history of the British truck acts 1465–1960". Business History. 4 (1): 76–77. doi:10.1080/00076796100000031. ISSN 0007-6791.
   • Handsaker, Morrison (1962). "Review of The Truck System, Including a History of the British Truck Acts, 1465-1960". The Journal of Economic History. 22 (1): 112–113. doi:10.1017/S002205070010261X. ISSN 0022-0507. JSTOR 2114283. S2CID 154632275.
   • Barker, T. C. (1962). "Review of The Truck System: Including a History of the British Truck Acts, 1465-1960". Economica. 29 (116): 444–445. doi:10.2307/2551409. ISSN 0013-0427. JSTOR 2551409.
6. Reviews:

   • Williamson, Harold F. (1961). "Review of The Electric Interurban Railways in America". Technology and Culture. 2 (3): 284–285. doi:10.2307/3101042. ISSN 0040-165X. JSTOR 3101042.
   • Stewart, William C. (1960). "Review of The Electric Interurban Railways in America". The Business History Review. 34 (3): 376–377. doi:10.2307/3111882. ISSN 0007-6805. JSTOR 3111882. S2CID 155533597.
   • Komisar, Jerome B. (1961). "Review of The Electric Interuban Railways in America". Journal of Political Economy. 69 (6): 627. doi:10.1086/258582. ISSN 0022-3808. JSTOR 1828355.
   • Birr, Kendall (1961). "Review of The Electric Interurban Railways in America". The Journal of Economic History. 21 (1): 104–105. doi:10.1017/S0022050700113427. ISSN 0022-0507. JSTOR 2114830. S2CID 153492102.
   • Stover, John F. (1960-12-01). "The Electric Interurban Railways in America by George W. Hilton and John F. Due". Indiana Magazine of History. ISSN 1942-9711.
7. Reviews:

   • Bennett, Howard F. (1963). "Review of The Great Lakes Car Ferries". The Journal of Economic History. 23 (2): 249–250. doi:10.1017/S002205070010395X. ISSN 0022-0507. JSTOR 2116450. S2CID 154885449.
   • "Review of The Great Lakes Car Ferries". The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin (107): 135–136. 1962. ISSN 0033-8842. JSTOR 43518057.
   • Towle, Edward L. (1963). "Review of The Great Lakes Car Ferries". Technology and Culture. 4 (3): 357–359. doi:10.2307/3100872. ISSN 0040-165X. JSTOR 3100872.
   • Fletcher, Daniel O. (1963). "Review of The Great Lakes Car Ferries". The Business History Review. 37 (1/2): 117–118. doi:10.2307/3112106. ISSN 0007-6805. JSTOR 3112106. S2CID 155311245.
   • Harrington, J. L. (1 May 1963). "Review: The Great Lakes Car Ferries". The Journal of Transport History. 6 (1). Leicester: University College of Leicester: 64. doi:10.1177/002252666300600117. ISSN 0022-5266. S2CID 165934101.
8. Reviews:

   • Biemiller, Lawrence (Jun 15, 1994). "The Ma & Pa--A masterpiece worthy of a Velasquez or a Rembrandt -- The Ma & Pa: A History of the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad by George Hilton". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 40 (41). Washington: A47.
   • James, William A. (1964-06-30). "Book Review: The Ma & Pa. A History of The Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad. by George W. Hilton". Western Pennsylvania History: 1918 - 2020: 275–277. ISSN 1525-4755.
9. Review:

   • Barloon, Marvin J. (1971). "Review of The Transportation Act of 1958: A Decade of Experience". Technology and Culture. 12 (1): 115–120. doi:10.2307/3102299. ISSN 0040-165X. JSTOR 3102299. S2CID 110195657.
10. Reviews:

    • Post, Robert C. (1972). "Review of The Cable Car in America". Pacific Historical Review. 41 (2): 256–257. doi:10.2307/3638351. ISSN 0030-8684. JSTOR 3638351.
    • Massouh, Michael (1973). "Review of The Cable Car in America". Technology and Culture. 14 (4): 640–641. doi:10.2307/3102461. ISSN 0040-165X. JSTOR 3102461. S2CID 184406642.
    • Duke, Donald (1972). "Review of The Cable Car in America". Southern California Quarterly. 54 (2): 200–201. doi:10.2307/41170429. ISSN 0038-3929. JSTOR 41170429.
    • Ball, Duane E. (1972). "Review of The Cable Car in America: A New Treatise upon Cable or Rope Traction as Applied to the Working of Street and Other Railways". The Journal of Economic History. 32 (4): 981–982. doi:10.1017/S0022050700071424. ISSN 0022-0507. JSTOR 2117282. S2CID 154977172.
11. Review:

    • Murin, William J. (1977). Hilton, George W.; Smerk, George M.; Zwerling, Stephen; Hamer, Andrew Marshall; Dickey, John W. (eds.). "Urban Transportation Planning, Politics, and Policy Making". Public Administration Review. 37 (1): 89–97. doi:10.2307/974515. ISSN 0033-3352. JSTOR 974515.
12. Review:

    • Barsness, Richard W. (1980). "Review of Monon Route". The Business History Review. 54 (1): 148–149. doi:10.2307/3114302. ISSN 0007-6805. JSTOR 3114302. S2CID 155753645.
13. Reviews:

    • Salsbury, Stephen (1992). "Review of American Narrow Gauge Railroads". Technology and Culture. 33 (4): 817–820. doi:10.2307/3106605. ISSN 0040-165X. JSTOR 3106605.
    • Kornweibel, Theodore (1992). "Review of American Narrow Gauge Railroads". The Western Historical Quarterly. 23 (2): 259–260. doi:10.2307/970479. ISSN 0043-3810. JSTOR 970479.
    • Matthews, Fred (1991). "American Narrow Gauge Railroads by George W. Hilton (review)". Canadian Review of American Studies. 22 (1): 121–124. ISSN 1710-114X.
    • Post, Robert C. (1992). "Review of American Narrow Gauge Railroads". Pacific Historical Review. 61 (1): 135–137. doi:10.2307/3640804. ISSN 0030-8684. JSTOR 3640804.
    • Hughes, Geoffrey (March 1997). "Book Review: American Narrow Gauge Railroads". The Journal of Transport History. 18 (1): 87–88. doi:10.1177/002252669701800119. ISSN 0022-5266. S2CID 113850285.
    • Bryant, Keith L. (1991). "Review of American Narrow Gauge Railroads". Railroad History (165): 127–129. ISSN 0090-7847. JSTOR 43521528.
14. Review:

    • Noverr, Douglas A. (Fall 1996). "Hilton, George W., ed. "The Annotated Baseball Stories of Ring Lardner, 1914-1919" (Book Review)". Journal of Popular Culture. 30 (2). Bowling Green, Ohio: 206.
15. Review:

    • Jamieson, Alan G. (March 1996). "Book Review: Legacy of the Titanic". The Journal of Transport History. 17 (1): 86. doi:10.1177/002252669601700115. ISSN 0022-5266. S2CID 184785675.
16. Reviews:

    • Mason, Kathy S. (January 2003). "Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers: Hilton, George W.: Stanford: Stanford University Press 364 pp., Publication Date: September 2002". History: Reviews of New Books. 31 (2): 60–61. doi:10.1080/03612759.2003.10527891. ISSN 0361-2759. S2CID 142531975.
    • Lindstrom, Diane (2003). "Review of Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers". The Journal of Economic History. 63 (1): 297–298. doi:10.1017/S0022050703561800. ISSN 0022-0507. JSTOR 3132537. S2CID 153760509.
    • Liestman, Daniel (1995-04-15). "Social Sciences". Library Journal (120): 94. ISSN 0363-0277.