Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 1900-1980

Person

Staff Only

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 4 Collections and/or Records:

Address on The indispensable Philosophy for A Secure World

Digital item

Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_151_1_0012

Found in: Carl Albert Center Congressional and Political Collections

Helen Gahagan Douglas Collection

Collection

Identifier: CAC-CC-014

Scope and Contents The Douglas Collection covers the former congresswoman's life from her early stage career until her death in 1980. Because the bulk of the materials document her years in Congress, the collection is especially rich in covering events and issues central to the immediate post-World War II era. Due to her service on the Foreign Affairs Committee, there is a large amount of material on the earliest years of the Cold War and the establishment of the new world order. Other topics of note include the...

Found in: Carl Albert Center Congressional and Political Collections / Helen Gahagan Douglas Collection

Request for Information on African American Soldiers in World War II, 1946-01-01 - 1946-12-31

Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9

Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0095

Overview 79th (1945-1947)

Found in: Carl Albert Center Congressional and Political Collections / Helen Gahagan Douglas Collection / 79th Congress / General Files / Negro Soldiers: Correspondence and Data, January-February 16

Rosevelt's Philosophy of World Security and Collective Action: A Speech By Helen Gahagan Douglas

Digital item

Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_151_1_0013