Hattie McDaniel - Death

Death

McDaniel died at age 57 from breast cancer, in the hospital on the grounds of the Motion Picture House in Woodland Hills, on October 26, 1952. She was childless and was divorced from her fourth husband. She was survived by her brother, Sam McDaniel. Thousands of mourners turned out to remember her life and accomplishments. In her will, McDaniel wrote: "I desire a white casket and a white shroud; white gardenias in my hair and in my hands, together with a white gardenia blanket and a pillow of red roses. I also wish to be buried in the Hollywood Cemetery". The Hollywood Cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood is the resting place of movie stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, and others. Hollywood Cemetery refused to allow her to be buried there, because it, too, practiced racial segregation. It did not accept the bodies of black people. Her second choice was Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, where she lies today.

In 1999, Tyler Cassity, the new owner of the Hollywood Cemetery, who had renamed it Hollywood Forever Cemetery, wanted to right the wrong and offered to have McDaniel interred in the cemetery. Her family did not want to disturb her remains and declined the offer. Hollywood Forever Cemetery instead built a large cenotaph memorial on the lawn overlooking the lake in honor of McDaniel. It is one of the most popular sites for visitors.

McDaniel executed her last will and testament in December 1951. In it, she willed her Oscar to Howard University. McDaniel had been honored by the students of Howard University with a luncheon after winning her Oscar. At the time of her death, McDaniel would have had few options other than black institutions to place the Oscar. Very few white institutions in that day that preserved black history. Historically, black colleges often were the places in which such artifacts were placed for preservation. Despite evidence that she had made a good income as an actor, surprisingly, McDaniel's final estate was less than $10,000. The IRS claimed that her estate owed more than $11,000 in taxes. In the end, the probate court ordered all of her property, including her Oscar, sold to pay off creditors. Years later, the Oscar apparently showed up at the place McDaniel wanted it to be: Howard University. According to many reports, McDaniel's Oscar was displayed in a glass case in the University's Drama Department.