Maj. Gen. Arnold Elzey – Confederate General
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Hattie McDaniels – Mammy
Hattie McDaniel was a groundbreaking American actress, singer, and entertainer who made history in 1940 when she became the first Black person to win an Academy Award, receiving the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mammy in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind. Born in 1893 to formerly enslaved parents, McDaniel built her career during an era when segregation and racial discrimination severely limited opportunities for Black performers. Although she appeared in more than 70 credited films, many of the roles available to her were servants and domestic workers, something that later made her career both celebrated and controversial.
McDaniel defended her choices by famously saying she would rather earn money playing a maid than actually be one. Even on the night she won her historic Oscar, segregation forced her to sit at a separate table from her white Gone with the Wind castmates. Hattie McDaniel died in 1952, but her achievement broke an important barrier in Hollywood and helped open doors for generations of Black actors who followed her.