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 511 Collections and/or Records:
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
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
Controversy at USC: Helen Douglas Doused in Hay and Water, 1950-05-17
Item — Box: 170, Folder: 7
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_170_7_0009
Overview
81st (1949-1951)
Correction of Inaccurate Information in LA Times Editorial, 1950-01-01 - 1950-12-31
Item — Box: 173, Folder: 10
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_173_10_0044
Overview
81st (1949-1951)
Corrections and Gratitude: A Letter from Other Pilot to Mrs. Douglas
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0005
Correspondence from De Gazon to Helen Gahagan Douglas
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0073
Correspondence on the New Deal: A Call for Change, 1946-06-11 - 1946-06-11
Item — Box: 5, Folder: 62
Identifier: CAC_CC_047_1_5_62_0012
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Cousins invites Douglas to briefing on Vietnam with Senator Clark.
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_8.12_9_24_0002
Defending Democracy: A Call to Action by Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1950-08-18
Item — Box: 171, Folder: 3
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_171_3_0045