Morris L. Hite*

Morris Hite Jr., was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma, in 1910. When his father's banking business collapsed in the panic of 1907, his father left town to try to start over, and Hite's mother moved her children in with her parents on their farm. She died a few years later, and Hite was raised by his grandparents.

To help out, Hite started selling produce and milk door to door. He was a good student in high school and had a gift for drawing. At age 15, he was recruited to intern with Eugene Arnette, who owned the Arnette Athenaeum. While working there, he decided to enter the field of advertising. After a year with Arnette, Hite quit high school and went to work full time as a publicist for the Griffith Amusement Company's movie theaters.

After two jobs in advertising, Hite, at age 19, set up his own advertising agency. In 1937, he took a position with the Tracy-Locke-Dawson advertising firm in Texas. After serving in World War II, he turned it into the Southwest's leading advertising agency. In 1982, following the merger of Tracy-Locke with BBDO International, he organized a new holding company, Allcom. Hite was a charter member of the development board of the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1970, he received the Linz Award, the oldest and most respected civic honor bestowed on a Dallas citizen.