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:
Western 1201: Class of Service Symbols
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_22_9_0077
Western Symbols: Class of Service, 1947-01-01 - 1947-01-01
Item — Box: 74, Folder: 15
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_3.2_74_15_0044
Overview
80th (1947-1949)
Western Symbols Class of Service: Telegram Instructions, 1947-01-01 - 1947-01-01
Item — Box: 74, Folder: 15
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_3.2_74_15_0068
Overview
80th (1947-1949)
Western Symbols Class of Service: Telegrams and Cablegrams
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0013
Western Symbols Class of Service: Telegrams and Cablegrams, 1946-01-01 - 1947-12-31
Item — Box: 23, Folder: 1
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_2.2_23_1_0013
Overview
79th (1945-1947)
William invites Helen and Melvyn to attend opening night at Billy Rose Theatre.
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_8.12_9_24_0013
Winning the Peace: A Call to Action by Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1950-01-01 - 1950-01-01
Item — Box: 173, Folder: 7
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_173_7_0021
Overview
81st (1949-1951)
Women's Economic Empowerment and Political Advocacy, 1950-10-01
Item — Box: 173, Folder: 7
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_173_7_0018
Overview
81st (1949-1951)
Yale Liberal Party invites and praises Helen Gahagan Douglas's speech.
Digital item
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_8.12_9_24_0014
Zero Hour for Housing: Urgent Action Needed to Enact the Taft-Ellender-Wagner Bill, 1948-06-03
Item — Box: 171, Folder: 3
Identifier: CAC_CC_014_5_171_3_0020