Hattie McDaniel left school to become a performer and was featured singing on the radio in 1924. Due to the Great Depression, she had to work in a Milwaukee club. Even though the club only had white performers but occasionally she was able to sing. She gained a small role on a local radio show call “The Optimistic Do-Nuts” In 1932 McDaniel was in a film called The Golden West which was her debut. African Americans were often stereotyped as maids in films yet she made the best of this, appearing as a maid or cook in close to 40 films in the 1930s. In 1940 Gone with the Wind was awarded with eight Oscars and she was awarded with the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role of Mammy, making her the first African American to win an Oscar
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