“Why should I complain about making $700 a week playing a maid? If I didn’t, I’d be making $7 a week being one.”
Hattie McDaniel, born in 1893, faced challenges few of us can truly imagine. At a time when Black performers were limited to stereotypes and shut out from Hollywood’s highest honors, she broke barriers.
With her wit, resilience, and extraordinary talent, she earned the role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939). Although typecast as a servant, she brought such depth and strength to the character that she made history: becoming the first African-American to win an Academy Award, taking home Best Supporting Actress in 1940.
That night, she became the first Black guest to sit inside the Academy Awards ceremony rather than work it. Her acceptance speech was heartfelt and humble, ending with: “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.”
McDaniel willed her Oscar to Howard University, where it later disappeared during the unrest of the 1960s. Its whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
But her legacy? That has never been lost. Hattie McDaniel remains a shining symbol of courage, talent, and groundbreaking achievement.
Happy Birthday, Hattie McDaniel.
