Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 1900-1980

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1900
Birth 1900-11-25
Death 1980-06-28
Gender:
Female
Americans
English, English

Biographical notes:

Congresswoman, actress, singer; interviewee married Melvyn Douglas.

From the description of Reminiscences of Helen Gahagan Douglas : oral history, 1973-1976. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122419917

Douglas had a long and illustrious professional life, first as a stage actress and opera singer, then as a member of Congress from Los Angeles. She left elected office when she lost the 1950 California Senate race to Richard Nixon, but stayed active in Democratic politics until her death.

From the description of Papers, 1922-1980, bulk 1940-1951. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 518138859

American actress and member of Congress.

From the description of Autograph letters signed : Los Angeles, [n.p.], to Stark Young, [n.d.]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270870847

Helen Gahagan Douglas was an American singer, actress, and politician.

Douglas was born November 25, 1900 in Boonton, New Jersey. She attended Barnard College at Columbia University because of its close proximity to Broadway and began taking acting classes, making her theatrical debut in the 1922 production of Dreams for sale. Douglas then left college for Europe in order to study opera. Returning to the United States in 1930, she met her future husband, Melvyn Douglas, while playing in Tonight or never. They married on April 15, 1931 and raised three children. Her political interest, sparked by the rise of Nazism in Germany and Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, led Douglas to champion liberal causes in California such as civil rights, organized labor, and environmental issues. Douglas became the Democratic national committeewoman for California in 1940, and in 1944, she won the congressional seat for California's Fourteenth District (reelected in 1946 and 1948). In 1950 Douglas ran against Richard M. Nixon for the United States Senate. The campaign turned ugly; Nixon supporters accused Douglas of having Communist connections. Douglas lost the election and retired from political life. She passed away June 28, 1980.

From the description of Oral history interviews of the Biography: Helen Gahagan Douglas Oral History Project, 1973-1983. (Indiana University). WorldCat record id: 50488261

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Subjects:

  • Theater
  • Singers
  • Acting
  • Actresses
  • African American soldiers
  • Campaign management
  • Political campaigns
  • Political campaigns
  • Cancer
  • Civil rights
  • Cost and standard of living
  • Disarmament
  • Elections
  • Environmental policy
  • Equal rights amendments
  • Federal aid to education
  • Health planning
  • Housing
  • Housing
  • Internal security
  • Labor policy
  • Legislative bodies
  • Legislators
  • Lend-lease operations (1941-1945)
  • Lynching
  • Migrant agricultural laborers
  • Nuclear energy
  • Price regulation
  • Rent control
  • Singing
  • Social security
  • Taxation
  • Veterans
  • Women
  • Women legislators
  • Women politicians
  • Political campaigns
  • Housing

Occupations:

  • Actresses
  • Authors
  • Lecturers
  • Opera singers
  • Representatives, U.S. Congress

Places:

  • Central Valley (Calif. : Valley) (as recorded)
  • California (as recorded)
  • Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico) (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • Los Angeles (Calif.) (as recorded)
  • China--Germany--Greece--Korea (as recorded)
  • Palestine (as recorded)
  • California (as recorded)
  • California (as recorded)
  • South America (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)
  • CA, US
  • MA, US
  • NY, US
  • NJ, US

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