In 1940 Hattie McDaniel became the first black performer to be nominated for and win an Oscar, for her role in Gone with the Wind.
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Song of the South co-stars Hattie McDaniel, the first black performer to win an Oscar, for her supporting role as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind. By the time Song of the South was released, McDaniel was the subject of much criticism in the black community for propagating outdated stereotypes in her roles. But McDaniel actually began her career subverting those same stereotypes, first in black minstrel shows and then in Hollywood movies.
Hattie McDaniel, Gone with the Wind (1939)
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
Sources for the whole season:
Birth of an Industry by Nicholas Sammond
Stony the Road by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
White Screens/Black Images by James Snead
Slow Fade to Black by Thomas Cripps
Making Movies Black by Thomas Cripps
Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood by Donald Bogle
Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films by Donald Bogle
Joel Chandler Harris: A Biography and Critical Study by Bruce R. Bickley Jr.
Sources specific to this episode:
Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood by Jill Watts
Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro and outro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca. The outro song this week is “Boo Hoo Blues” sung by Hattie McDaniel.
Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:
Manuel Galvin, Jean-Jacques Marcel, Maurice Milteau - Memphis Mistrels
Manuel Galvin - No More Baby Please
Paul Martin Pritchard - Gumshoe Blues
Geoffrey Peter Gascoyne - Stripper
Manuel Galvin - Cotton Flower
Manuel Galvin - Keep The Blues On
Johnny Pearson - Disney Land
Daniel Horacio Diaz - Fancy Footwork
John Denis Hawksworth - The Depression Years
Jahzzar - Railroad's Whiskey Co
Eric John LaBrosse, Jason Michael Carter, Joshua Phillip Cass,Matthew Robert Danbeck, Adam Patrick Tremel - Ain't No Money In The Blues
Jules Ruben - Early Morning Blues
Didier Francois Dani Goret - Eyes Only For You
Hattie McDaniel - Boo Hoo Blues
Credits:
This episode was written, narrated and produced by Karina Longworth.
Editor: Jared O'Connell.
Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.
Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.
Logo design: Teddy Blanks.
