Hattie McDaniel’s Academy Award Comes Home

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences replaced the plaque awarded to Hattie McDaniel for Best Supporting Actress, after it went missing from Howard University more than 50 years ago.  

McDaniel was the first Black person to win the prestigious award for her role as Mammy in “Gone with the Wind” in 1940. She bequeathed the award to Howard, and it arrived after her death in 1952. However, it disappeared sometime in the 1960’s, and the reasons why or its whereabouts were never found.

For decades, the family petitioned the Academy for a replacement, but was consistently denied. Finally, on October 3, 2023, Howard received one during a ceremony titled “Hattie Comes Home.” It now resides in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.