Helen Gahagan Douglas Collection

Collection

Identifier: CAC-CC-014

Staff Only

The Douglas Collection covers the former congresswoman's life from her early stage career until her death in 1980. Because the bulk of the materials documents her years in Congress, the collection is especially rich in covering events and issues central to the immediate post-World War II era. Due to her service on the Foreign Affairs Committee, there is a large amount of papers on the earliest years of the Cold War and the establishment of the new world order. Interesting topics include the Dumbarton Oaks conference, the development of the Marshall Plan, the outbreak of the Korean War, and the creation of the state of Israel. There is also a significant amount of documentation covering the nation's readjustment after the war. Issues dealing with the Office of Price Administration, the Taft-Hartley Act, housing, migrant labor and veterans' concerns are but a few of the myriad topics found in the collection. In addition, there is a record of the changing roles of women and African Americans in the late 1940s. Finally, the collection contains much information on the personality of Douglas. Scattered throughout the papers are poetry, correspondence with Broadway and movie idols as well as with political notables, and genealogical records.

The Douglas Collection covers the former congresswoman's life from her early stage career until her death in 1980. Because the bulk of the materials document her years in Congress, the collection is especially rich in covering events and issues central to the immediate post-World War II era. Due to her service on the Foreign Affairs Committee, there is a large amount of material on the earliest years of the Cold War and the establishment of the new world order. Other topics of note include the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, the European Recovery Act (Marshall Plan), the Korean War, and the creation of the state of Israel. There is also a significant amount of documentation covering the nation's readjustment after the war. Issues dealing with the Office of Price Administration, the Taft-Hartley Act, housing, migrant labor and veterans' concerns are but a few of the myriad topics found in the collection. In addition, there are multiple materials related to the changing roles of women and African-Americans in the post-war years, including those related to the Douglas/Nixon campaign of 1950 and the infamous “Pink Sheet”. The collection also contains excellent insight into the personality of Douglas through the variety of correspondence with Hollywood stars and political elite, her poetry, programs and scripts of earlier plays, and genealogical records.

Dates

1922-1980
Majority of material found in 1940-1951

Creator

Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 1900-1980 (Person)

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Use:

The University of Oklahoma asserts no claim of copyright over photographs in this collection taken by private citizens. Any publication of such photographs requires the consent of the copyright holder.

Extent

110.13 Linear Feet (219 containers)

Additional Description

Biographical Information:

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.

Arrangement of Materials:

The Douglas Collection is arranged into 9 series: Theatrical Materials, 79th Congress, 80th Congress, 81st Congress, Political Papers, Subject and Personality Files, Oversize Materials, Photographs, and an Addition. Series Two, Three, and Four contain sub-series for Legislative Files and General Files; Series Four has a third sub-series for General Reference Files. The Theatrical Materials series is arranged into two sections. The first section is scrapbooks which are arranged chronologically by year then month and day. The second section of materials is arranged alphabetically by folder title and contents for plays and then chronologically by year. Plays folders are subsequently arranged alphabetically by content which is the play title. The 79th Congress is divided into two subseries: Legislative Files and General Files. The Legislative Files are arranged alphabetically by issue with miscellaneous issues sorted to the end of the series and arranged chronologically by year and month. The General Files are arranged alphabetically by topic. The 80th Congress is divided into two subseries: Legislative Files and 80th and 81st Congresses, General Files. The Legislative Files are arranged alphabetically by issue and then chronologically by year. The General Files are arranged alphabetically by topic and then chronologically by year then month and day. The 81st Congress is divided into three subseries: Legislative Files, Legislative Reference Material, and General Reference Files. The Legislative Files are arranged alphabetically by issue/topic and then chronologically by year then month and day. The Legislative Reference Material subseries is arranged alphabetically by topic and then chronologically by year then the month. The General Reference Files are arranged by departments, organizations, subjects, entities, and with all miscellaneous files sorted to the end of the subseries. The Political Papers series is arranged into several groupings based on subject, material type, and material purpose. The Subject and Personality Files series is arranged into eleven sections. The Invitations section is arranged chronologically by year then the month. There is a section of materials for "The Eleanor Roosevelt We Remember." The correspondence files, A-I are arranged alphabetically. There is a section of correspondence files on campaign regrets. The correspondence files, J-R are arranged alphabetically. There is a section of correspondence files on "The Eleanor Roosevelt We Remember" and Eleanor Roosevelt as well as a section on correspondence files on the South American Study Trip. The correspondence files, S-W are arranged alphabetically. The subject files are arranged alphabetically by subject. The news clippings are arranged alphabetically by topic. The materials for Douglas's manuscript "A Full Life" are arranged by its stages of development. The final section consists of committee reports. The Oversize series is arranged into groups by material type, subject, and title. The Douglas Collection Addition series is arranged into 15 subseries. The Arts and Literature subseries is arranged alphabetically by name followed by materials for the film "She." The Music subseries is arranged alphabetically by name, subject, or title. The Theater subseries is arranged alphabetically by title. The 79th Congress, 80th Congress, and 81st Congress subseries are each arranged alphabetically by name or subject. The 1950 Senate Campaign and Political Papers subseries are each arranged alphabetically by subject. The Memberships subseries is arranged initially arranged by status (accepted, declined, resigned) and then chronologically by year. The Speeches subseries is arranged chronologically. The A Full Life subseries is arranged by draft. The Subject Files subseries is arranged alphabetically by name, subject, or title. The Patrick L. Hardy Addition subseries is arranged alphabetically. There is a James M. and Jean T. Babcock Addition subseries. The Outsized subseries is arranged but removal location. Many of the photographs are arranged into groups based on event or content.

The Douglas Collection is arranged into 9 series: Theatrical Materials, 79th Congress, 80th Congress, 81st Congress, Political Papers, Subject and Personality Files, Oversize Materials, Photographs, and an Addition. The majority of the collection is organized alphabetically and then chronologically, though some of the subseries may be organized chronologically first. The Addition series consists of 15 subseries that are organized in a variety of ways. It is not clear why so many subseries exist or the origin of their organization. The Photographs series is organized topically.

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Accruals:

Accruals and additions: September 26, 1967; September 7, 1968; April 1969; January 16, 1979; January 17, 1979; June 30, 1980; September 30, 1981; November 15, 1981; April 1, 1985; May 20, 1985.

The Patrick L. Hardy Addition was donated to the Carl Albert Center in 2006.

The James M. and Jean T. Babcock Addition was donated to the Carl Albert Center in April 2009. James Babcock, former archivist at the University of Oklahoma, helped secure the Douglas collection for the university in the early 1950s. Over the years, he and Mrs. Babcock established a friendship with Mrs. Douglas and her family.