75 years ago, on February 29, 1940, actress Hattie McDaniel made history by becoming the first African American, male or female, to win an Oscar. She won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in the movie Gone With the Wind.
The following day, Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons wrote of McDaniel’s win:
Hattie McDaniel earned that gold Oscar by her fine performance of ‘Mammy’ in Gone with the Wind. If you had seen her face when she walked up to the platform and took the gold trophy, you would have had the choke in your voice that all of us had when Hattie, hair trimmed with gardenias, face alight, and dress up to the queen’s taste, accepted the honor in one of the finest speeches ever given on the Academy floor.