Hattie McDaniel is coming home—and so is her Oscar.
In 1940, McDaniel made history by becoming the first Black person awarded an Oscar, winning for her performance as Mammy in Gone With The Wind. McDaniel later bequeathed the plaque (from 1936 to 1942, supporting actors received plaques, not statuettes) to Howard University. At the time, Black colleges were some of the only institutions committed to preserving Black history. Though there is no official record that the Oscar made it to the university, former students recall seeing the plaque in a glass case in the school’s Childers Hall.
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However, sometime in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s, McDaniel’s award went missing. Though there are theories about what happened—some believe it was tossed into the Potomic during student protests, others think it was sold to a collector—the Academy refused to replace it, citing a long-standing policy of being difficult. But they did send a framed photo of McDaniel and a sheet of commemorative stamps bearing her face in the Oscar’s stead. Today, the Oscars are changing the policy. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it would gift Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts a replacement, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“Hattie McDaniel was a groundbreaking artist who changed the course of cinema and impacted generations of performers who followed her,” Academy Museum president Jacqueline Stewart, Ph.D., and Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in a statement. “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.”
Hattie’s replacement will not be a plaque but an honest-to-goodness statuette. The Academy will present the school with its overdue replacement at an event called “Hattie’s Come Home” on October 1.