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 560 Collections and/or Records:
Congressional Attendance Record: Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1950-01-01 - 1950-01-01
Item — Box: 172, Folder: 2
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_172_2_0010
Overview
81st (1949-1951)
Congressional Speech Request
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0015
Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas Advocates for Housing Legislation, 1948-06-11
Item — Box: 171, Folder: 3
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_171_3_0017
Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas Exposes Rising Food Prices and Calls for Action, 1948-04-28
Item — Box: 171, Folder: 3
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_171_3_0026
Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas Fights for the TEW Housing Bill, 1948-06-12
Item — Box: 171, Folder: 3
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_171_3_0021
Contact Information for Mr. Papel Williams
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_2_0017
Contact Major Guernsey for Declassification of ASF Manual M5 and War Department Manual 20-6
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_2_0007
Contribution for Negro History Week, 1946-02-11
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0059
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Contribution for Negro History Week
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0059
Contributions of Negro and Jewish Soldiers to the War Effort
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0001