Hattie McDaniel Born June 10th, 1895 Died October 26th, 1952

Quick Vocab List Academy Award – Also known as an “Oscar,” this is one of the highest honors that an actress can receive. Discrimination – Hurting someone or keeping them from succeeding because of their race or gender. Typecast – To be hired as an actor or actress to play the same kind of role over and over again. Hardship – a difficult time or experience. Colored – an old-fashioned way of referring to a black person. (This word isn’t ok to use!) Premiere – The first public showing of a film or a play.

Discussion Questions rd th 3 -5 • Who is your favorite actress or actor? What do you think that their life is like?

• Life for an actress who is a person of color was considerably more difficult in Hattie McDaniel’s time. After reading the comic…

o What about Hattie’s life was exactly like you expected?

o What about her life was most surprising to you?

• How do you think Hattie felt about the way that she was treated throughout her life? o In a perfect world, what should have changed about the way she was treated?

• What can we learn from Hattie’s life about the way we should treat others?

MS – HS • In sociology, Discrimination is defined as “unjustifiable negative behavior towards a group and its members.” What aspects of McDaniel’s life resulted from discrimination?

• McDaniel didn’t just face discrimination from Hollywood. She also received criticism from other people of color who wanted a greater diversity of characters.

o Why might black Americans desire to see black doctors, artists, and other professions? o Who is to blame for McDaniel’s typecasting and why?

• According to The Economist1, although more minority actors and actresses are winning awards, there is still a long way to go before equal representation in films is attained. In what ways can our approach to film change to help attack this problem?

Lesson Ideas Humanities

• Use the Hattie McDaniel comic as a bell ringer; it can serve as a specific jumping off point to explore the civil rights struggle of the 20th Century.

• The 12th Annual Academy Awards took place in 1940. Against the backdrop of the rest of the world’s involvement in World War II, use Hattie McDaniel as an example of domestic American life at the time. English • Watch Hattie McDaniels2 Oscar acceptance speech, as well as a choice number of others. Assign your students to write an acceptance speech of their own, highlighting some important social changes that they would call attention towards. Art • Use McDaniel as one of many examples of Hollywood’s underrated actors in history. Create a gallery honoring these figures and inform the public about them.

• Find unsung black American heroes to portray in portrait-sized postage stamps. Comic Analysis • Examine McDaniel’s facial expressions through the progression of the panels. What emotion is she feeling at these various pivotal moments of her life? How can you tell? • This is a 3 color comic. Why do you think the artist chose to color it in this manner? Do you like the simple and stark use of color? Explain your opinion.

Resources 1 http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/01/film-and-race 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7t4pTNZshA

HATTIE MCDANIEL by R. Alan Brooks 2-Page Comic Script Revised 1/3/2017

ART NOTES The visual references I provide are just to give an idea of what I’m talking about. But don’t feel confined to them. Do what you think works to communicate the intention of the scene.

Since much of Hattie McDaniel’s life involves contradiction, I think it’d be powerful to have her Hollywood moments be vibrantly colored, and her private moments be darker and sadder in tone. Just a thought; to show the duality of how racism was a heavy counterpoint to her celebrity status.

This script will mostly use captions- an omniscient narrator to tell the story.

HATTIE MCDANIEL by R. Alan Brooks 2-Page Comic Script Revised 1/3/2017

PAGE ONE – SIX PANELS

PANEL ONE Establishing shot: The Academy Awards sign on a marquis: 12th Annual Academy Awards ​

1. CAPTION: It’s not easy being first. 2. CAPTION: Some people love you for it. 3. CAPTION: Some hate you for it. ​ ​

PANEL TWO Hattie McDaniel holding up the award, giving her acceptance speech.

1. CAPTION: Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American Academy Award ​ winner. 2. CAPTION: (And the first to even be nominated). ​ ​

PANEL THREE Shot of her singing into an old-timey radio microphone.

1. CAPTION: The first Black woman to sing on the radio in the U.S...

LETTERING NOTE: Maybe add some music notes around her?

HATTIE MCDANIEL by R. Alan Brooks 2-Page Comic Script Revised 1/3/2017

PANEL FOUR Her on an old-timey television. Perhaps, the name of the show in the corner above her head?

1. CAPTION: ...and eventually, the first Black American… 2. CAPTION: ...to star in her own radio and TV shows.

PANEL FIVE Her doing a scene with a White actor, as she plays a maid.

1. CAPTION: She was first at so many things. 2. CAPTION: But, because of discrimination, she played over 28 different maids in movies, television and radio. 3. CAPTION (smaller font): (Most famously, in Gone With The Wind.) ​ ​

PANEL SIX Shot of a 1940s/1950s Black doctor and artist. HATTIE MCDANIEL by R. Alan Brooks 2-Page Comic Script Revised 1/3/2017

1. CAPTION: Sometimes that frustrated other African-American people… 2. CAPTION: ...who wanted movies about Black doctors, artists and more.

HATTIE MCDANIEL by R. Alan Brooks 2-Page Comic Script Revised 1/3/2017

PAGE TWO – SIX PANELS

PANEL ONE Picture of East High School.

1. CAPTION: Born in 1895… 2. CAPTION: ...and raised in Fort Collins and Denver... 3. CAPTION: ...she graduated from Denver East High School. ​ ​

PANEL TWO Hattie working as an actual maid, in a far less glamourous setting than her movie maid scene. ​ ​

1. CAPTION: Despite her fame, Hattie dealt with hardships. ​ 2. CAPTION: At the beginning of her career, although she was on a popular show… 3. CAPTION: ...they paid her so little that she had to work as an actual maid! ​ ​

PANEL THREE Her standing sadly outside a fancy 1940s movie theater, with a police/security guards pointing to a sign that says “No colored allowed.” HATTIE MCDANIEL by R. Alan Brooks 2-Page Comic Script Revised 1/3/2017

1. CAPTION: Later, she wasn’t allowed to attend her own movie premieres… 2. CAPTION: ...just because she was a Black woman.

PANEL FOUR Shot of a funeral.

1. CAPTION: Hattie McDaniel died of breast cancer in 1952, in CA. 2. CAPTION: Her life was complicated... ​

PANEL FIVE Shot of Hattie, looking victorious. HATTIE MCDANIEL by R. Alan Brooks 2-Page Comic Script Revised 1/3/2017

1. CAPTION: ...but she accomplished a lot, and that’s worth remembering. ​ 2. CAPTION: After she died, she had one more first:

PANEL SIX Shot of her postage stamp.

1. CAPTION: “First Black Oscar winner featured on a postage stamp” ​

Bibliography 1. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1367 2. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567408/ 3. https://archive.org/details/Melmorg-HATTIEMcDANIELGetsAStamp845/ 4. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,762137-6,00.html 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_McDaniel