The long lost Oscar of Hattie McDaniel to be replaced by the Academy
Eight decades since her historic win for ‘Best Supporting Actress’, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures are set to replace a long-lost Oscar belonging to actor Hattie McDaniel.
In 1940, during the height of World War II, McDaniel took home a plaque in lieu of a golden Oscar trophy for her performance in Gone With the Wind. This was standard procedure for supporting actors at the time. The rules would change just four years later when all winners were granted a trophy.
Although the Oscar statuettes are higher in materialistic value, these plaques are exceedingly rare. Sadly, McDaniel’s original award was lost long ago, but the Academy has now announced that it will award a new Oscar statuette to the Howard University Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts in honour of the late actor.
Hattie McDaniel had initially left her Academy Award to Howard University upon her passing in 1952. The plaque was displayed in the university’s drama department for years until it mysteriously vanished in the late 1960s.
Notably, McDaniel became the first Black person to be nominated for and win an Academy Award. Astonishingly, over half a century passed before the next Black female Oscar winner took home an award. Whoopi Goldberg won ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for Ghost in 1991, becoming the second Black female winner.
“Hattie McDaniel was a groundbreaking artist who changed the course of cinema and impacted generations of performers who followed her,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in a new statement to the press. “We are thrilled to present a replacement of Hattie McDaniel’s Academy Award to Howard University. This momentous occasion will celebrate Hattie McDaniel’s remarkable craft and historic win.”
Howard University is currently preparing for a special ceremony named ‘Hattie’s Come Home’, scheduled to take place at the Ira Aldridge Theater in Washington, DC, on October 1st.
The event is dedicated to celebrating the return of Hattie McDaniel’s Academy Award and will feature an opening speech by Phylicia Rashad, the Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University. Later, students at the university will hold a series of performances.
“When I was a student in the College of Fine Arts at Howard University, in what was then called the Department of Drama, I would often sit and gaze in wonder at the Academy Award that had been presented to Ms. Hattie McDaniel, which she had gifted to the College of Fine Arts,” Rashad added in a statement. “I am overjoyed that this Academy Award is returning to what is now the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University. This immense piece of history will be back in the College of Fine Arts for our students to draw inspiration from. Ms. Hattie is coming home!”
Throughout her extraordinary career, McDaniel graced the screen in nearly 300 films. As the daughter of former slaves, McDaniel’s historic Oscar win for her role in Gone With the Wind was imbued with personal pathos. Her heartfelt acceptance speech, where she described the win as “one of the happiest moments of my life,” will be featured alongside her cherished Academy Award at the upcoming event.
“It has made me feel very, very humble, and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future,” McDaniel said, accepting the award in 1940. “I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry. My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel. And may I say thank you, and God bless you.”
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