Cohelan, Jeffery, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 7th district, 1914-1999
Person
Biographical:
Democrat Jeffery Cohelan (1914-1999) was born in San Francisco and attended public school and San Mateo Junior College before receiving an A.B. degree from the University of California. He continued his studies there at the Graduate School of Economics and was a Fulbright research scholar at Leeds and Oxford Universities in England in 1953-1954. Before his election to Congress, Cohelan served in many public capacities. He was elected secretary-treasurer of the Milk Drivers' and Dairy Employees' Local 302, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in 1942. He served as a consultant to the University of California Institute of Industrial Relations and as a member of the Berkeley Welfare Commission from 1949 to 1953. He was a city councilman in Berkeley from 1955 to1958. Cohelan was also an active member of the San Francisco Council on Foreign Relations, the Commonwealth Club of California, and various fraternal groups. From 1959-1971, Cohelan served in the U.S. House as the Representative of California's Seventh District. This territory includes Berkeley and northern Oakland, and is conventionally one of the nation's most left-leaning congressional districts. During Cohelan's tenure, he served on the Armed Services, Appropriations, and District of Columbia committees and focused his attention on civil rights, conservation of natural resources, education, foreign affairs, labor, Vietnam, and anti-Vietnam protests, especially those within his district. Important legislation Cohelan sponsored was for the creation of Redwood National Park in northern California and ending the importation of migrant farm labor, the Braceros, from Mexico. Unable to counter political accusations that he was only a lukewarm opponent of the Vietnam War, Cohelan lost the Democratic primary of 1970 to Ronald V. Dellums, a more militant liberal and former Berkeley councilman. Following the completion of his term, Cohelan remained with his family in the Washington, D.C. area and assumed the executive directorship of the Group Health Association of American until his retirement in 1979.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Jeffery Cohelan Collection
Collection
Identifier: CAC-CC-012
Scope and Contents
The Jeffery Cohelan Collection contains 95 cubic feet of documents, all of which are from his congressional office. The material spans the period of 1930-1970, although the bulk of the collection is from 1959-1970, when Cohelan was in office.The Cohelan Collection contains 120 linear feet of materials, with the vast majority of items related to his time in office from 1959-1970. The documents include correspondence, press releases, questionnaires, speeches, notes, memos, background...