Background
William M. Gallagher was born on February 26, 1923 in Hiawatha, Kansas, United States.
William M. Gallagher was born on February 26, 1923 in Hiawatha, Kansas, United States.
In 1936 William Gallagher moved to Flint and graduated from St. Matthew's High School in 1943. During World War II he served in the United States Army in the signal corps, medical corps, and air corps.
William Gallagher earned his first camera while in high school by selling magazines. He began his professional photography career with the Sporting Digest in Flint in 1946. The following year he moved to the Flint Journal and within a few months became a staff photographer, a position he would hold until his death.
William Gallagher died of meningitis at age 52.
Gallagher's colleagues described him as "a boisterous, flamboyant character" who had good relationships with local police and government officials. He was fond of pranks, once lighting a cherry bomb inside the police department and watching the officers scramble, while another time he commandeered a police helicopter while covering a story.