Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 1900-1980
Person
Biographical:
Helen Gahagan Douglas (1900-1980) began her professional career on the Broadway stage and was deemed a "star" at age twenty-two. By the 1930s, she left the Northeast and moved to California with her husband, Hollywood actor Melvyn Douglas. Although she made only one movie herself--the science fiction film, She--she soon found herself immersed in politics. She worked with the Farm Security Administration and later was elected Democratic National Committeewoman from California. In 1944, she was elected as the representative of California's Fourteenth District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was successfully reelected to this position in 1946 and 1948. A tireless New Deal Democrat, Douglas was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and served as an alternate delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations. In 1950, she opposed Richard M. Nixon in the general election for the U.S. Senate. The campaign was especially brutal with the Republicans quite "liberal" in their charges that Douglas was a communist. Nixon easily won the election. Though Douglas never entered the political fray again, she remained a tireless public speaker and activist.
Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:
Concerns and Critiques: A Letter to Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1947-01-01 - 1947-01-01
Item — Box: 74, Folder: 15
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_3.2_74_15_0048
Overview
80th (1947-1949)
Gratitude for Advocacy: A Letter to Rep Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1946-01-01 - 1946-12-31
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0039
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Helen Gahagan Douglas: Voting Record on Un-American Activities, Foreign Policy, Internal Security, and National Defense, 1950-01-01 - 1950-01-01
Item — Box: 173, Folder: 8
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_173_8_0002
Overview
81st (1949-1951)