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 267 Collections and/or Records:
Request for Copy of Recent Speech on the Negro Issue
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0081
Request for Copy of Remarks on Negro Soldiers
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0001
Request for Copy of Remarks on The Negro Soldier, 1946-02-01
Item — Box: 23, Folder: 1
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0077
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Request for Copy of Report on African American Contribution in World War II, 1946-01-01 - 1946-12-31
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 9
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0096
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Request for Copy of Report on African American Contribution in World War II
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0096
Request for Copy of Speech: Negro Soldier in World War II
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0002
Request for Copy of Speech on The Negro Soldier
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0063
Request for Copy of The Negro Soldier in World War II Congressional Entries
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0066
Request for Document on Negro Devotion and Heroism in World War II
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0070
Request for Excerpts of Story of the Negro Fighting Man from Rep. Helen Douglas
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0023