Commemorate & Celebrate Icons of Black History: A U.S. Postal Service salute to significant African-American achievers in our nation's history. _________________________________________________ THE EARLY YEARS Hattie McDaniel was born in Wichita, Kansas, on June 10, 1895. She was the thirteenth child of Henry McDaniel, a Baptist minister, and Susan Holbert, a spiritual singer. Hattie's father was a former slave and a Union soldier in the Civil War. After the war, the family moved to Wichita, Kansas, where people accepted blacks as part of their community. Hattie's family moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1913. Her brother, Otis, wrote a play called Champion of the Freedman. Hattie enjoyed acting in the play so much that she dropped out of East Denver High School and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, with her brothers, Otis and Sam. There they created a performing troupe, the McDaniel Brothers Stock Company. Hattie developed her singing and acting skills by performing with her brothers and touring black theaters with tent shows and vaudeville acts. She won a gold medal from the Woman's Christian Temperance Union for her performance of Convict Joe. Hattie became the first black performer to sing on network radio when she performed with George Morrison's orchestra in 1915. She toured the Pantages and Orpheum vaudeville circuits with the orchestra. When she couldn't find a job in show business, Hattie worked as a maid, cook, or washerwoman. When working as a maid in the women's washroom at Sam Pick's Suburban Inn in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the 1920's, Hattie auditioned for the inn's floor show and starred in the show for two years! Hattie cut a record in 1926 but never became a famous recording artist. Hattie began appearing in theatrical productions in the late 1920's. One of her first big parts was singing a duet, I Still Suits Me, with Paul Robeson in the traveling production of Show Boat. Hattie decided to move to Hollywood to act in movies in 1931. She debuted in Golden West in 1932. Hattie appeared in comedies, dramas, westerns, and musicals. Some of her most famous roles were in Song of the South, Since You Went Away, Nothing Sacred, and Alice Adams. She sang duets with Will Rogers in Judge Priest and Clark Gable in Saratoga. Hattie usually played the role of a maid, nanny, or servant because those were the only roles that were available for blacks in Hollywood films at that time. EXTRAORDINARY ENTERTAINER Margaret Mitchell's classic novel about the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, was published in 1936. In 1939 David O. Selznick turned the book into a movie. One of the major characters in the movie was a maid named Mammy. Louise Beavers, Hattie Noel, and Eleanor Roosevelt's maid all tried out for the part, but Hattie won the role because she believed she could create a unique Mammy character. Hattie's association with Gone with the Wind was very controversial. Many of the film's stars were present at the premier in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 1939. But because the city of Atlanta didn't allow blacks to attend film premieres, Hattie wrote a letter to Mr. Selznick saying she would be unable to attend. The original movie program had Hattie's picture on the back. However, due to racial intolerance in Atlanta, her picture was replaced with a picture of Alicia Rhett, a lesser character in the movie. Hattie also faced fierce opposition to the film from the black community. Picketers demonstrated against Gone with the Wind in Chicago and New York, saying that the character of Mammy was a reminder of slavery. The NAACP protested the characters Hattie played, but the parts of maids and servants were the only roles available for black actors at that time! Throughout the controversy, Hattie played her characters with dignity and a sense of humor. Joseph T. Skerrett wrote "like other great black performers before her, she realized and accepted the limitations of the roles in which she was cast--but within those limits she reached for power, asserting the strength and humanity of the characters she interpreted." Hattie said that her role as Mammy was an opportunity to "glorify Negro womanhood." Hattie did such an exceptional job acting as Mammy that she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress! She was the very first black actor to ever be nominated for or to win an Academy Award! On February 29, 1940, Hattie attended the Twelfth Annual Academy Awards program. She accepted the award, saying: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, fellow members of the motion picture industry and honored guests: This is one of the happiest moments of my life, and I want to thank each one of you who had a part in selecting me for one of the awards, for your kindness. It has made me feel very, very humble; and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything that I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and the motion picture industry. My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel, and may I say thank you and God bless you. Even after winning an Oscar, Hattie continued to play maids in future films. When criticized for that choice, she said, "I'd rather make $700 a week playing a maid than earn $7 a day being a maid." Many of her mammy-maid characters were sassy, independent-minded characters who were cleverer than their employers. Even though the roles she played were controversial, Hattie was a pioneer in the movie industry because her work opened doors of opportunity for future black actors. Her adoring fans called her "Hi-Hat Hattie" and "The Colored Sophie Tucker." BEYOND TARA Hattie was a leader in the black community. During World War II, she led the black section of the Hollywood Victory committee and organized entertainment for the black troops. She promoted fund-raising benefits for black children's education. When a group of white neighbors in her Los Angeles neighborhood tried to keep blacks from moving into their neighborhood, Hattie filed and won an anti-discrimination lawsuit. Even though she was the most celebrated black movie actress of her time, Hattie also enjoyed working on the radio in shows such as: The Optimistic Donuts, Show Boat, Amos and Andy, and Eddie Cantor. She earned two stars on the Matt Justice Black Hollywood Walk of Fame; one for radio at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard and one for motion pictures at 1719 Vine Street. Walter White, head of the NAACP in the 1940s, lobbied Hollywood to end stereotyped roles for black actors. So, Hattie decided to focus more upon her radio career. In 1947 she starred in The Beulah Show, the first radio program in which a black person played a starring role. This time, she earned praise from black political groups! The Beulah Show became a television program in 1951. Hattie starred in the first three episodes before she became too sick to continue. Hattie died of breast cancer at the Motion Picture Home and Hospital in Los Angeles on October 26, 1952. After her death, Hattie's Oscar was willed to Howard University in Washington, DC. The Award disappeared during the race riots in the 1960s and hasn't been seen since. In 2004, Academy president, Frank R. Pierson, wrote an official letter recognizing her achievements and dedication to the art of filmmaking. Hattie's last request, that she be buried at Hollywood Memorial Park, was denied because it was a whites-only cemetery. Her family buried her instead at Rosedale Cemetery, where she was the first African American interred there. In 1998, after Tyler Cassity bought the Hollywood Memorial Park, he offered to have Hattie's remains buried in his cemetery to honor her last request. Her family decided to leave Hattie in the Rosedale Cemetery. Therefore, Mr. Cassity erected a four-foot tall gray and pink granite memorial and held a dedication ceremony in her honor. Hattie's grandnephew, Edgar Goff, wrote this inscription: To honor her last wish Hattie McDaniel 1895 -1952 Renowned Performer Academy Award 1939 Gone with the Wind "Aunt Hattie, you are a credit to your craft, your race, and to your family." Hattie McDaniel's life has been honored by many artists. Larry Parr wrote an awardwinning musical biography of her life, Hi-Hat Hattie, which has been produced in regional theaters across the United States. Several books have been written about her life. Whoopi Goldberg narrated a recent documentary, Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel. Hattie was also honored in her hometown of Wichita, Kansas, at the 2004 Tallgrass Festival. Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans, proclaimed October 10, 2004 as Hattie McDaniel Day. During the festivities, Kasi Lemmons said, "Hattie McDaniel was a trailblazer. Looking back from where we are now, it's hard to imagine the strength it must have taken to show up on those sets and play those characters-- caricatures that did not reflect her life or the people she knew." Trailblazer. Extraordinary Entertainer. Hattie McDaniel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LESSON ONE Hi-Hat Hattie Materials Needed: multiple copies of the Hattie McDaniel biography, large chart paper and markers, miscellaneous art supplies, computer with Internet access, video camera Setting the Stage: Who is your very favorite actor? What movies has this actor starred in? Why is this person your favorite actor? Give students time to think before sharing with a partner. Volunteers share with the class. Today we're starting a series of lessons celebrating one of America's most exceptional black actresses, Hattie McDaniel. Activity: Duplicate and distribute copies of Hattie McDaniel's biography. Before reading each section, please introduce the specialized vocabulary. Students should respond to the journal prompts before participating in the class activities. The Early Years Vocabulary: spiritual, freedman, troupe, comedienne, vaudeville, dramatization, washerwoman, duets Journal Prompts: When was Hattie born? Describe Hattie's family. How did Hattie develop her singing and acting talents? Class Activities: Students share their journal responses in a grand conversation. Access www.classicmoviemusicals.com/mcdaniel.htm to learn more about the movies Hattie appeared in: Work together as a class to write a summary of Hattie's early years. Display the summary in the classroom. Extraordinary Entertainer Vocabulary: novel, controversial, premieres, racial intolerance, opposition, demonstrated, controversy, nominated, asserting, humanity, interpreted, glorify Journal Prompts: What were some problems Hattie encountered when she played the part of Mammy? What award did Hattie win? What were her nicknames? Who are some other famous black actors you know? Class Activities: Students share their journal responses in a grand conversation. Have student pairs conduct research on other famous black Oscar winners: Sidney Poitier, Louis Gossett Jr., Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, and Morgan Freeman. They may also conduct research on famous black actresses on these sites: http://www.africanamericans.com/Actors.htm , http://mahoganycafe.com/, and http://www.factmonster.com/spot/bhmbios1.htm. Be sure to screen the sites before student use because of pop-ups. Work together as a class to write a summary of this section. Display the summary in the classroom. Beyond Tara Vocabulary: promoted, anti-discrimination, celebrated, lobbied, stereotyped, episodes, riots, achievements, dedication, granite, memorial, regional, documentary, honored, trailblazer, caricatures Journal Prompts: In what ways was Hattie a black leader? How has she been honored? When did she die? Where is she buried? Class Activities: Students share their journal responses in a grand conversation. Access www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4946312 to hear Hattie speak during an NPR show. Visit www.woodsontheweb.com/Scenes_of_the_Crimes/hattie_mcdaniel_s_ star.htm to view one of Hattie's stars. Access www.cemeteryguide.com/mcdaniel.html to see Hattie's memorial marker Work together as a class to write a summary of this section. Display the summary in the classroom. Extension/Enrichment Activities: - Students create and share a poster, hat, or hatbox full of items depicting Hattie's life. - Students create true and false statements about Hattie McDaniel's life to use in the Hollywood Squares activity. - Create a special newscast, documentary, or radio talk show about Hattie's life. In addition to writing and telling a narrative about her life, students may conduct mock interviews of black celebrities talking about the impact Hattie made on the American entertainment industry. Share with other classes. LESSON TWO Freedom Fighters Freedom Fighters Materials Needed: quilt (if available), featured books, computer with Internet access, miscellaneous art supplies, US map with markers and yarn, large chart paper and markers, red and green construction paper, student-created true-false statements Setting the Stage: What is a freedom that Americans enjoy? Invite students' input. When Hattie's father, Henry McDaniel was born, he was not free. He was a slave owned by John McDaniel, a farmer in Lincoln County, Tennessee. Slaves were black people who were forced to work on Southern plantations. They did not have the right to get married, have an education, or own property. They had to do whatever their masters told them to do. Many times they were sold to other masters and they never saw their families again. How do you think they felt about their lives? Many slaves decided they wanted to run away to Canada so that they could be free. Runaway slaves who were caught were hurt or killed. Although it was very dangerous, many slaves decided it was worth the risk. Hattie's father believed in fighting for his freedom, too. After the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Henry McDaniel became a free man, or freedman. He joined Company C, the 12th United States Colored Infantry Regiment at the Elk River, because he wanted to fight for the freedom of all black Americans. Fighting for freedom had its risks, too. During the war, Henry got frostbite in both legs. A mortar shell exploded near his head, shattering his jaw and causing him to lose hearing in his right ear. During the next few days you're going to learn how black and white people fought for slaves' freedom. Literature Circles Students explore quality children's literature to learn about the Underground Railroad and black Civil War soldiers. - Find multiple copies of these books: Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson, Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold, Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter, and Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco. If multiple copies are not available, read the books aloud as a whole-class experience or create a text set for a reading center. Briefly introduce each book to the entire class. LESSON THREE Hollywood Squares Hollywood Squares 1 Collect the true-false statements that students generated about Hattie McDaniel's life, the Underground Railroad, and Freedom Fighters. Check for accuracy. Write each statement on a separate piece of paper. Place the statements in a bowl or envelope. 2 Divide the class into a red team and a green team. 3 Arrange the classroom furniture into a tic-tac-toe formation: 3 squares per row; 3 rows. 4 Give a piece of red paper and a piece of green paper to the participants in each square. 5 Divide the class in half. Group A occupies the squares first. Multiple students can occupy each 'square'. Group B is further divided into two sets of contestants: green team and red team. Seat the teams on either side of the emcee (you), facing the squares. 6 The team who has a member whose birthday is closest to Hattie McDaniel's birthday (June 10, 1895) goes first. For this description, let's say the green team gets to go first. 7 The green team selects a square. The emcee reads a statement. The people occupying the square say whether they think the statement is true or false. They may purposely mislead the green team if they wish. The green team decides (as a group) whether they agree or disagree with the square's response. 8 If the green team is correct, they win the square and the occupants of the square hold up a green sheet of paper. If the green team is wrong, the red team wins the square by default and the occupants hold up a red sheet of paper. Then it's the red team's turn to play. 9 The game continues until one team has 'won' 3 squares horizontally, diagonally, or vertically. They cannot win the last square by default; they have to actually answer that question. After a team wins, Group B occupies the squares and Group A divides into red and green teams to play another round. - Students select which book interests them the most. Form literature circles of no more than 5 students per group. - Identify roles for each student: leader (facilitates group activities), passage master (selects important passages), word wizard (explains key words), connector (helps team make personal connections), and artist (selects/draws key pictures). - Students set a schedule for reading the book. They can read the books independently or with a partner. - Students respond to these prompts in their reading journals: Why did the slaves want to run away? Who helped them? How did they get where they needed to go? What was life like for a Civil War soldier? - Students share their responses. Then they discuss the book from the perspectives of the roles to which they've been assigned (see step 3). Each group creates a flowchart, concept map, or storyboard depicting the information they learned from their book. They should prepare to share this information with the entire class. Extension Activities - Learn what the words of the Follow the Drinking Gourd song mean by accessing this website: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk/gourd2.html . Sing the song as it appears in the back of Winter's book. Plot the Underground Railroad route on a U.S. map using yarn and tacks. - Students work with their literature circle teammates to conduct additional research about the Underground Railroad and Freedom Fighters (black Civil War soldiers, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, William Still, Thomas Garrett, and John Brown). Post large charts in the room with these headings: Underground Railroad Facts and Freedom Fighters' Feats. Students record the facts they've learned about their selected topics on the class charts. Use traditional reference materials and the Internet. http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/tubman/tubman.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0205_040205_slavequilts.html http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/greenway/leahy/ugrr/ http://www.bjmjr.com/civwar/org_usct.htm http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/history/aa_cw_history.htm http://www.washingtonch.k12.oh.us/mapsite/usctcw http://www.civilwarhome.com/boysinwar.htm http://www.civilwarhome.com/emancipation.htm http://www.civilwarhome.com/freedmen.htm - Students write simulated journal entries about the flight to freedom or fight for freedom from a participant's perspective. Share these journal entries using an author's chair. - As a class, create multiple true and false statements of key information students learned about the Underground Railroad and Freedom Fighters. These facts will be used in the Hollywood Squares culminating activity. - Students create and share individual or team projects (i.e. freedom quilts, songs, dioramas, books, poems, dramatizations) demonstrating what they learned about the Underground Railroad and the Freedom Fighters through their literature circle and research activities. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STAMP BIO INFORMATION FROM POSTER Scott Joplin Composer and pianist, Scott Joplin is known as the "King of Ragtime". With a lifetime repertoire of more than sixty compositions, Joplin's creativity and virtuosity paved the way for the evolving American musical form of jazz, and for the widespread acceptance of African-American musicians as serious artists. Composer of the first opera by an African American, Joplin's genius was not recognized in his lifetime. He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for his contributions to American music in 1976. Marian Anderson One of the finest contralto singers of all time, Marian Anderson was also a key figure in the struggle of blacks for civil rights in the 20th century. She was banned by the Daughters of the American Revolution from performing at Constitution Hall, which led to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's resignation from the DAR. Anderson instead gave a stunning and symbolic performance before 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial. Anderson was active in politics, and was honored with an appointment as goodwill ambassador to Asia, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Congressional Gold Medal, and the National Medal of Arts. Hattie McDaniel A gifted singer and prolific actress, Hattie McDaniel appeared in more than ninety films, and was one of America's great character actresses. McDaniel was the first African-American woman to sing on network radio. As star in the title role of the nationally broadcast radio program, The Beulah Show, Hattie became the first African American to star in a sitcom when the program crossed media form from radio to television. Her 1939 performance in Gone With the Windis her best-known role, and earned Ms. McDaniel the first Academy Award bestowed upon an African American. Sojourner Truth One of the most inspirational and well known African Americans of the 19th century, Sojourner Truth was born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree in New York in 1797. She gained her freedom in 1828 and began an evangelical life of traveling and preaching under the name Sojourner Truth. Her autobiography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, was published in 1850 and her speeches against slavery and for women's suffrage drew large crowds. She was received by President Lincoln at the White House and spent her later years counseling former slaves as they started their new lives. Harriet Tubman Born into slavery, abolitionist Harriet Tubman was the first African-American woman to be honored on a United States postage stamp. Ms. Tubman was a conductor for the famed Underground Railroad during the Civil War, leading hundreds of slaves to freedom in the North along an elaborate secret network of safe houses. Ms. Tubman's extraordinary courage, ingenuity and persistence, gained more than 300 fugitive slaves their freedom. James Weldon Johnson A noted writer, lawyer, educator and civil rights activist, James Weldon Johnson is credited with authoring Lift Every Voice and Sing, long recognized as the African-American National Anthem. Johnson was also a revered poet, editor and mentor during the Harlem Renaissance, a period of outstanding literary vigor and creativity that took place in the 1920s. He further served as a U.S. diplomat to Nicaragua and Venezuela, and as general secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A. Philip Randolph A trade unionist and civil rights leader, A. Philip Randolph was a dedicated leader in the struggle for justice and parity for the black American community. In 1925, as founding president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Randolph organized the group of black workers and, at a time when half the affiliates of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) barred blacks from membership, took his union into the AFL. He was the first president of the Negro American Labor Council, which he co-founded to fight discrimination within the AFL-CIO. Ethel L. Payne Journalist, publisher, civil rights leader, and educator, Ethel L. Payne was often called the "First Lady of the Black Press." Payne was a syndicated columnist and long-time reporter for the Chicago Defender, a leading African-American newspaper. She was the first African- American woman to receive accreditation as a White House correspondent, and in 1966 provided on-site coverage of African-American troops in Vietnam. When hired by CBS in 1972, Payne became the first black female radio and television commentator at a national news organization. Carter G. Woodson Carter Godwin Woodson was an American historian who first opened the field of black studies to scholars and popularized the field in black schools and colleges. To focus attention on black contributions to civilization, he founded Negro History Week in 1926. This celebration and remembrance later evolved into Black History Month. Woodson was dean of the College of Liberal Arts and head of the graduate faculty at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and dean at West Virginia State College. While there, he founded Associated Publishers, to publicize and promote books on black life and culture. James Baldwin Essayist, novelist, poet and playwright, James Baldwin's unique voice addressed American race relations from a personal and psychological perspective. Baldwin's best known works include the novels Go Tell It On the Mountainand The Amen Corner, in which he suggests that all people, not just minorities, suffer in a racist climate. Baldwin's later works openly and frankly address homosexuality and interracial romance. Although he spent most of his adult life in Europe, Baldwin never forsook his American citizenship and is buried in Harlem, New York. Jan Matzeliger Working as a cobbler apprentice in Lyn, Massachusetts, Jan Matzeliger helped manufacture shoes by hand. After observing the slow and intricate process of "lasting" shoes -- joining the top of a shoe to the sole -- Matzeliger developed a machine in the 1880s that would duplicate and automate this tedious task. In the same time that an expert shoe laster could produce 50 pairs of shoes by hand, Matzeliger's "shoe lasting" machine could produce up to 700 pairs. Jan Matzeliger's invention made it possible for ordinary citizens to purchase shoes. Benjamin Banneker Mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker first achieved national recognition for his scientific work in the 1791 survey of the Federal Territory (now Washington, D.C.). In 1753, he built the first watch made in America, a wooden pocket watch. Twenty years later, Banneker began making astronomical calculations that enabled him to successfully forecast a 1789 solar eclipse. He is best known for his six Farmer's Almanacs, published between 1792 and 1797, and has been referred to as the first African-American scientist. Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable A pioneer settler of Chicago Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable landed on the banks of the Chicago River in land that was still a part of the British Empire. Du Sable operated a farm and thriving trading post serving Native Americans, British, and American explorers, as well as Frenchmen. Du Sable was an entrepreneur and a diplomat, speaking several Indian dialects, as well as English, French and Spanish. He and his family were detained by the British for five years during the American Revolution because of their American and French sympathies. Du Sable was recognized by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago as the Founder of Chicago on October 26, 1968. Sugar Ray Robinson Considered by many to be the best boxer of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson was the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times. When he retired from the ring, Robinson had boxed in 202 professional bouts with a record of 175 wins, 19 losses, 6 draws and 2 no-contests, with 109 knockout wins. Despite being an insulin-dependent diabetic, Robinson is ranked among the most prolific knockout winners of all time. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Wilma Rudolph A four-time Olympic champion, Wilma Rudolph is the first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals. Dubbed the "world's fastest woman," Rudolph achieved her great success despite suffering from polio and wearing leg braces for several years as a child. She was named by the Associated Press as the U.S. Female Athlete of the Year and also won United Press Athlete of the Year honors. After retiring from the track, Rudolph served as a teacher, a track coach, and a noted goodwill ambassador. Jackie Robinson The first African American to join modern Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson had a ten-year, all-star career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, winning seven National League Pennants, and leading the team to their only World Series win over the New York Yankees. He was the first African American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and his number (42) was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997. After retiring from baseball in 1956, Robinson became an active civil rights defender, working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and on several political campaigns.