W. W. Keeler: Difference between revisions

Both of Bill Keeler's paternal and maternal grandfathers, George B. Keeler and Nelson F. Carr, were white men who had settled in Cherokee territory and married Cherokee women. They were notable for their roles in founding the community that is now [[Bartlesville, Oklahoma]]. Carr owned the sawmill and grist mill in town. George Keeler was one of the men involved in drilling the first oil well in what would become the state of [[Oklahoma]].<ref>Wallis, p. 180.</ref>

Bill Keeler's parents were William and Sarah Louisa Carr, both of whom were of Cherokee descent. William was a stockman who had traveled from Bartlesville to the [[Texas Panhandle]] in 1908 to buy cattle. Sarah was then expecting her fourth child, but decided to accompany her husband. She delivered their first son in [[Dalhart, Texas|Dalhart]]. Only two of their children survived to adulthood: "Bill" and a sister, Blanche. Young Bill attended [[Bartlesville public schools]]. During high school and college, he spent his summers working on construction sites for Phillips Petroleum Company.<ref name="Lowe">[http://fivetribes.tripod.com/wwkeeler.html Lowe, Marjorie. “Let’s"Let's Make It Happen”Happen" W. W. Keeler and Cherokee Renewal. ''The Chronicles of Oklahoma''.] Retrieved August 28, 2013.</ref> In 1924, Blanche married [[Kenneth S. "Boots" Adams]], who would later become president of Phillips Petroleum Corporation. The couple divorced in 1945.<ref >ingham, p. 6.</ref>

Keeler was born into the [[Cherokee clans#Anigilohi|Long Hair Clan of the Cherokee]].<ref name="Gridley">Gridley, p. 111.</ref> He moved to [[Bartlesville, Oklahoma]] as a child and lived with his grandmother due to his mother’smother's ill health. She instilled into him “Indian"Indian ways”ways" and Cherokee principles of morality. His mother eventually returned and attempted to raise him with white man principles and pushed for him to assimilate.<ref name="Gridley"/> The starkly contrasting influences from his mother and grandmother conflicted Keeler in his early life, but he ultimately successfully assimilated into white society. He began working part-time for [[Phillips Petroleum]] on various construction sites at age sixteen while still in high school, and continued during the summers while attending college. Keeler graduated from the [[University of Kansas]] with a degree in [[Chemicalchemical Engineering]]engineering in 1930.<ref name="EOHC-WWKeeler">[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/K/KE002.html Agnew, Brad. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Keeler, William Wayne (1908-1987.)"] Retrieved April 15, 2012.</ref>

BillKeeler accepted a full-time engineering position at Phillips' [[Kansas City, Kansas]] Refinery even before he graduated. While living there, he met Ruby Lucille Hamilton, who had graduated from the nursing school at Trinity Lutheran Hospital in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. The couple married in Kansas City on September 15, 1933. They remained in Kansas City, where their first two sons were born, until 1939, when he transferred to the Phillips refinery in [[Borger, Texas]] as chief chemist. The family moved back to Bartlesville in 1941, where their youngest son was born.<ref name="Lowe"/> During World War II, he supervised the construction of a new refinery Phillips built in Mexico. After the end of the war, he was promoted to manager of Phillips' refining department in Bartlesville.<ref name="EOHC-WWKeeler"/>

Keeler’sKeeler's work with Phillips Petroleum was quite a step forward for Indians of the time. He managed to climb through the ranks of a white -owned company despite being a Cherokee Indian. After working for nearly half a century with Philips Petroleum, he rose to CEO of the company in 1968 until he was forced to retire in 1973 due to reaching the company's mandatory retirement age.<ref name="Lowe"/>http://fivetribes.tripod.com/wwkeeler.html Lowe, Majorie. (1996) “’Let’s Make it Happen.’ W.W. {{efn|Keeler andreached CherokeePhillips' Renewal.”]mandatory Retrievedretirement onage Aprilin 15, 20121973.</ref> name="EOHC-WWKeeler"/>}} His success with Phillips Petroleum drew the attention of the federal government and displayed him as a leader thatwho could be appointed to higher positions. Keeler was quoted as saying “easterners…"easterners... are aghast”aghast" at finding he iswas Indian due to his success in the oil industry.<ref>IN{{cite PETROLEUMnews|title=In petroleum, INDIANIndian AFFAIRSaffairs HEhe ISis Aa LEADERleader: :Cherokee Chief Leadsleads Phillips Oil Firm. 1967.oil firm|work=Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file), |date=April 2, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed April 24, 2012).1967|via=ProQuest}}</ref>

In 1948 he was selected as Vicevice Chairmanchairman of the Tribestribe's Executiveexecutive Committeecommittee. Both the Cherokee National Council and the Oklahoma congressional delegation recommended that President Truman appointedappoint Keeler as Chief in 1949, following the death of the previous principal chief, [[J. B. HeMilam]].<ref name="Lowe"/> {{efn|Milam was the first Cherokee Principal Chief appointed since the tribal governments had been abolished, just before Oklahoma was proclaimed as a state. Milam had established an executive committee to assist him in governing the tribe. Both Indian Commissioner John R. Nichols and the U.S. Government accepted Milam's committee as a legally constituted body.<ref name="Lowe"/>}} Keeler continued to build on the Milam model, and would remain in thatthe chief position until 1975, having been reappointed by Presidents [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]], [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]], [[Lyndon Johnson|Johnson]], and [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]].<ref>Gridley, p.114.</ref> During a period from 1945- to 1972 he also served as Chairmanchairman of the Executiveexecutive Committeecommittee of the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands and was instrumental in getting the 1836 Treaty of Bowles Village brought before the [[Indian Claims Commission]]. He resigned that post in 1972.<ref name="Keeler Papers">W.W. Keeler Papers, TCAB Files, Cherokee National Historical Society, Tahlequah, Oklahoma</ref> Under President Johnson’sJohnson's Administration, Keeler was appointed as a member of the National Advisory Committee for the [[War on Poverty]] Program and was put on the President’sPresident's Committee on Economic Opportunity.<ref name="Keeler Papers"/> Alaskan Governor [[Walter Hickel]] appointed Keeler chairman of a task force to find ways to improve utilization of native labor.<ref name="Keeler Papers"/> Also under President Johnson, the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the timeInterior]], [[Stewart Udall]], appointed Keeler to head a group to with the focus of reorganizing the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]].<ref name="Keeler Papers"/> Although these appointments are most likely attributed to his success as a businessman as well as a white appearance, they should not diminish his success and accomplishments in the Cherokee nation.

Keeler’sKeeler's success in the oil industry and work with the federal government coincided with his older, more conservative upbringing. [[Clyde Warrior]], an Indian activist during the 1960, once mockingly described him as “a"a little brown American.”"<ref name="Cobb">Cobb, Daniel M. (2008). ''Native Activism in Cold War America.'' United Press of Kansas. p.61.</ref>

Some consider Keeler to be the most influential person to the Cherokee nation aside from [[John Ross (Cherokee chief)|John Ross]], who battled the removal of Indians and fought against the “Trail"[[Trail of Tears]].”"<ref name="Gridley">{
{{cite book|author=Gridley, Marion E. |title=Contemporary American Indian Leaders. |page=111.}}</ref> He has promoted infrastructure building within Cherokee land while serving as chief. Although Keeler would eventually manage to create great leaps in Cherokee infrastructure and life, he did not promote Indian[[Tribal sovereignty in the United States|native sovereignty]] in the late 1950s.<ref name="Cobb"/> Also, while serving as Chief, he did not endorse the radical change of the late 1960s and 1970s but instead promoted more conservative changes and equality.<ref name="Cobb"/> He actively supported education and welfare work among his people, stating “Indians"Indians should not be entitled to more rights than anybody else, but they should still have all the rights of everyone else.”"<ref name="Lowe"/> He also advocated hard work of Indians as means to progress stating that “Indians"Indians cannot win friends by force and that militancy damages constructive causes.”"<ref name="Lowe"/> In 1971, Keeler was democratically elected as Chief of the Cherokee Nation, this was the first democratic election of chief since 1903.<ref name="Lowe"/> Ross Swimmer—whoSwimmer, who followed Keeler as Chief after Keeler decided not to run for a second term—stated that Keeler “was"was the Cherokee tribe. He was the one who established the tribe and he did a lot of it with his own money and energy.”"<ref name="Lowe"/>

Keeler also promoted and accomplished great infrastructure building in the Cherokee nation. The Cherokee Nation owned several office Buildings including the Tribal Business Office, a BIA[[Bureau of Indian Affairs|BIA]]-leased building, and a building housing education programs.<ref name="Monney">Monney, James. (1975). ''A Historical Sketch of the Cherokee''. Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago, IL. X.</ref> He also created several Cherokee buildings targeted at industry building; such as a garment manufacturing company with Cherokee employees, the Cherokee Nation Builders Corporation (with Cherokee Indian construction crews), and skills training programs to assimilate to the new industrialized world as well as crafts and child care training for women at home.<ref name="Monney"/> He also established a national Cherokee newspaper and oversaw the Tribal Housing Authority, which offered low -cost housing to Cherokees.<ref name="Monney"/> Keeler helped establishedestablish the Cherokee Foundation and through legal legislation attained $14,789,000 from the federal government over land dispute.<ref>House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Disposition of Judgment Funds of the Cherokee Nation or Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. 87 H.R. 11590. June 19, 1962. Page 3.</ref> He also draftedpresided over the drafting of a new Cherokee constitution in 1975 in his final year as chief.<ref name="EOHC-WWKeeler"/>

He died in [[Bartlesville, Oklahoma]], on August 24, 1987, after four years of failing health.<ref name="EOHC-WWKeeler"/>

The W. W. Keeler Complex in [[TalequahTahlequah, Oklahoma]], is the seat of Cherokee tribal government, and was named in honor of the late chief. The executive and legislative branches are located there.<ref>[http://byways.org/explore/byways/2346/places/80142 Cherokee Nation Tribal Complex (OK).] Retrieved August 30, 2013.</ref>

* Ingham, John N. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders''. "Adams, Kenneth Stanley." (1983) Greenwood Press. {{ISBN |0-313-23907-X}} (v. 1).Available on Google Books.

* Monney, James. (1975). ''A Historical Sketch of the Cherokee''. Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago, IL.

* [httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=RagBNuag-z4C&pg=PA471&lpg=PA471&dq=blanche+keeler+adams&source=bl&ots=bQp9jEdjkP&sig=cDDtE2GFYz39EWG06nz746jOqYU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Nt0oUoWUJOT9igKomoCQDA&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=blanche%20keeler%20adams&f=false] Wallis, Michael. ''Oil Man: The Story Of Frank Phillips & The Birth Ofof Phillips Petroleum''.] (1995) St. MartinsMartin's Press. {{ISBN |0-312-13135-6}}. Available on Google Books.

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