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 32 Collections and/or Records:
Inquiry about 'the History of the American Negro' - Letter to Representative Helen Douglas, 1946-01-01 - 1946-12-31
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0060
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Letter of Appreciation for Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas's Stand for Equality, 1946-01-01 - 1946-12-31
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0100
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Letter of Appreciation to Congresswoman Helen Douglas, 1946-01-01 - 1946-12-31
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0031
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Letter of Approval: A Soldier's Response to a Speech, 1946-01-01 - 1947-12-31
Item — Box: 23, Folder: 1
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0037
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Letter of Congratulations to Helen G. Douglas for Speech on Negro Soldiers in World War II, 1946-02-16
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0098
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Recognition of African American Service Men in Congress, 1946-01-01 - 1946-12-31
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0088
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Request for 1500 Copies of The Negro Soldier by Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1946-03-20
Item — Box: 23, Folder: 1
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0023
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Request for a Copy of The Negro Soldier, 1946-02-05
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0042
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Request for Address on Speech Regarding Negro Soldiers in House of Representatives, 1946-01-01 - 1947-12-31
Item — Box: 23, Folder: 1
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0068
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Request for Complimentary Copy of Publication on Negro Devotion and Heroism in the Cause of Freedom, 1946-04-16
Item — Box: 23, Folder: 1
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0042
Overview
79th (1945-1947)