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Reminiscences of Helen Gahagan Douglas : oral history, 1973-1976.

Creator: Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 1900-1980.
Project: Douglas project.
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :Transcript 345 leaves.
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
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Biographical Note

Congresswoman, actress, singer; interviewee married Melvyn Douglas.

Scope and Contents

Family background: Gahagan family history in Ohio, childhood in Brooklyn; Gahagan Engineering Corporation; parents ̀influence on philosophy, career choices; Barnard College 1920-24, and first theater, opera experiences; marriage to Melvyn Douglas and move to California 1932; concert tour in Germany 1937; first political activities: Anti-Nazi League of California 1937, lobbying activities on behalf of migrant workers, Civil Defense Chair of California 1939, National Democratic Committee vice-chair 1940-1944; interest in minority rights, 1902 Reclamation Act (160 acre limit); Congressional races of 1944, 1946, 1948: campaigning, Washington office set-up; domestic stands in Congress: post-war price controls, tax reform 1947, Fair Employment Practices Commission 1947, National Redwood Forest Bill 1947, committee work on bill for cancer research 1949, National Housing Act 1949, Housing Act 1950; relationships with lobbyists; communist accusations in Congress; membership on Foreign Affairs Committee: support of United Nations, Marshall Plan, United States recognition of Israel, Atomic Energy Bill of 1949; Senate campaign 1950: reclamation issue, tidelands oil issue, press perspective of campaign, Catholic support, campaign funds, Nixons̀ red-scare tactics; post-1950 activities: American Christian Palestine Committee, work with Adlai Stevenson and Dean Acheson at United Nations, campaigning for John F. Kennedy 1960, book on Eleanor Roosevelt, Advisory Committee on Agricultural Labor, Womens̀ International League for Peace and Freedom 1964; friendship with Helen Fuller; comparison of directors, productions; reflections on marriage, meshing two careers.

Subjects

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