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:
Undelivered Telegram Notice from Western Union Telegraph Company
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0021
Unfinished Business: The Urgency of Federal Anti-Lynching Legislation, 1946-08-02
Item — Box: 171, Folder: 3
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_171_3_0014
Unitarian Church invites Helen Gahagan Douglas to speak, offering honorarium.
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_8.12_9_24_0005
Unitarian Church invites Mrs. Melvin Douglas as guest speaker in 1975.
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_8.12_9_24_0025
Unity in Victory: Supporting African American Troops in WWII
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0003
Unity in Victory: Supporting African American Troops in WWII, 1946-01-01 - 1947-12-31
Item — Box: 23, Folder: 1
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0003
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Update on Dental Officer Discharge Criteria: Letter to Honorable Helen Gahagan Douglas
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_29_3_0006
Update on Dental Officer Discharge Criteria: Letter to Honorable Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1946-01-01 - 1947-12-31
Item — Box: 29, Folder: 3
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_29_3_0006
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
Urgent Appeal for Action: Stop the Attacks on Free Speech and Peaceable Assembly, 1947-11-16
Item — Box: 74, Folder: 15
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_3.2_74_15_0018
Overview
80th (1947-1949)
Urgent Appeal to Helen Gahagan Douglas Regarding Contempt Citations, 1947-01-01 - 1947-01-01
Item — Box: 74, Folder: 15
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_3.2_74_15_0043
Overview
80th (1947-1949)