Call Number:

MC284

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers

Extent:

23 boxes

Language:

English

Date:

1918-2008 (inclusive)

Creator:

Keeley, Robert V.

Abstract:

Robert Vossler Keeley ('51) was a U.S. Foreign Service member and writer who served in a number of posts. The Robert V. Keeley Papers consist of reports, correspondence, writings, journals, and photographs from the breadth of Keeley's career, including his Foreign Service postings in Uganda, Cambodia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and Greece, as well as correspondence and other materials created and kept by Robert Keeley's wife, Louise Keeley.

Robert Vossler Keeley '51 was a U.S. Foreign Service member and writer who served in a number of posts. The son of diplomat James Hugh Keeley, Jr. and brother of writer and Princeton Professor Edmund Keeley, Robert Keeley was educated abroad and attended Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English literature in 1951. He married Louise Benedict Schoonmaker, with whom he had two children, in 1951. Keeley served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Korean War. His early Foreign Service career assignments were in Uganda, Cambodia, and on the Interagency Task Force for the Indochina Refugees. Later, Keeley served as Ambassador to Mauritius (1976-1978), as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (1978-1980), and as Ambassador to Zimbabwe (1980-1984) and Greece (1985–89). Additionally, Keeley had postings in Jordan and Mali. Later in his career, Keeley was active in the American Foreign Service Association, and wrote two memoirs based on his experiences in Greece and Uganda. He also founded the Five and Ten Press, which published his own work. Keeley died in 2015.

The Robert V. Keeley Papers consist of reports, correspondence, writings, journals, and photographs from the breadth of Keeley's Foreign Service Career, including his postings in Uganda, Cambodia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and Greece. Additionally, there is a significant amount of correspodence, journals, and other materials from Keeley's education and early career, as well as some files from his career immediately following retiring from the Foreign Service. There are also three boxes of correspondence and other materials created and kept by Robert Keeley's wife, Louise Keeley.