The Keleher Family

Will Keleher’s father was employed by the railroad at the Santa Fe ships. Will never completed the eighth grade; he left school to work and help support the family. However, he never stopped educating himself, and after working as a Western Union messenger, a telegraph operator, a newspaper reporter and, later, city editor for the Albuquerque Journal, he entered Washington and Lee Law School in 1913. Two years later, at the age of 29, having earned his law degree, he hung out his shingle and went on to practice law in Albuquerque for more than half a century. The firm he founded still thrives today.

An accomplished lawyer, writer and historian, Will Keleher wrote several books detailing New Mexico’s history, doing all of his writing before and after his law office hours. Over the years he amassed an exceptional collection of New Mexico-focused books and historical papers. His correspondence with important New Mexicans is “one-of-a-kind.” Upon his death in 1972 the important collection passed to his widow, Loretta Barrett Keleher, who taught for several years at UNM, his daughter Mary Ann Keleher Rogers and his sons, Bill, Michael, John and Thomas, all of whom hold UNM undergraduate degrees. After the death of Loretta Barrett Keleher the family decided to make the material available to historians and researchers and generously donated the collection to the University of New Mexico center for Southwest Research.

“Dad was an avid, thorough and detail-oriented historian,” says Bill Keleher. “He collected one-of-a-kind material, and the family thought it would be best to place the collection at UNM, where it can be of use to all. Dad saw New Mexico change as the world changed, and we know the W.A. Keleher Collection will help us all better understand where we have been.”

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