Hattie McDaniel, The First African American To Win An Oscar Was A Member of Sigma Gamma Rho

Did you know that Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Oscar, was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.? McDaniel was a charter member of the Sigma Sigma chapter in Los Angeles, the sorority’s first chapter on the West Coast, founded in July 1939.

An actress, singer, and comedian, McDaniel made history at the 1940 Academy Awards when she won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, becoming the first Black performer ever to win an Oscar. She was also among the first African American women to sing on American radio, and she earned two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio and one for film.

Her triumph came in the face of relentless racism. McDaniel was barred from the Atlanta premiere of Gone with the Wind because it was held at a whites-only theater. On the night of her historic win, she was seated at a small, segregated table along the wall, apart from her white castmates. Through it all, she carried herself with a dignity that opened doors for the Black performers who followed her.

Hattie McDaniel Winning Best Supporting Actress

The indignities did not end with her life. When McDaniel died of breast cancer in 1952 at the age of 57, her wish to be buried at Hollywood Cemetery was denied because the grounds did not accept Black people at the time. Decades later, in recognition of her legacy, the cemetery, now Hollywood Forever, erected a memorial in her honor.

McDaniel’s bond with Sigma Gamma Rho endures in a meaningful way. The sorority created the Hattie McDaniel Cancer Awareness and Health Program in her memory, an initiative that promotes early detection and education around breast, prostate, and other cancers, carrying her name forward through the organization’s call of “Greater Service, Greater Progress.” In 2006, she received one more historic honor when she became the first Black Academy Award winner featured on a U.S. postage stamp.

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