Speaking Volumes: Learn more about the history of Hollywood’s biggest night

It’s hard to believe that the Oscars turn 90 this year.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which administers the Oscars, was created by Louis B. Mayer, head of the MGM studio in 1927. It was designed by George Stanley from a design from Cedric Gibbons, MGM’s longtime art direction department chief.

The first ceremony took place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles on May 6, 1929, and recognized films produced in 1927 and 1928. The awards portion with 12 categories lasted all of 15 minutes. This is a far cry from the four-hour extravaganzas that are broadcast each February.

The event was accompanied by a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks, the famed screen swashbuckler and huge star at the time. The original founders were Fairbanks, Mayer, Sid Grauman (Grauman’s Chinese Theater), Mary Pickford (a huge star in her own right and Fairbanks’ wife) and Joseph Schenck, a film studio executive. There is no film or audio recording of this first awards event.

A radio broadcast began the following year.

If you’re interested in learning more about the highest level of motion picture-related awards, you’ve come to the right place. Your local library has a wide variety of materials on or about the awards.

Gail Kinn’s “The Academy Awards: An Unofficial History” is a good history of the awards. It not only lists every award category, but also includes behind-the-scenes stories.

Thomas Solon Simonet’s “Oscar: A Pictorial History of the Academy Awards,” which is, as the title suggests, loaded with photographs and chronicles the awards’ history.

We also have Emanuel Levy’s “Oscar Fever: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards,” which discusses the often-intense competition between filmmakers and performers alike for the coveted Oscar.

Another aspect of the awards ceremony is what everyone is wearing.

If this interests you, you should pick up Patti Fox’s “Star Style at the Academy Awards: A Century of Glamour.” Fox was a fashion coordinator for the Academy and shares her insights on the history of fashion displayed annually on the so-called red carpet.

We also have some excellent documentaries on the awards.

“From Hattie to Halle: Oscar’s Black Journey” covers from 1939 to 2002. Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Oscar, in the category of best supporting actress for her role as Mammy in “Gone With the Wind” (1939). McDaniel’s win was controversial as the character conformed to a racial stereotype.

The documentary also highlights Sidney Poitier, who was the first African-American man to win for best actor, for “Lillies of the Field,” and Halle Berry, who won an award for best actress in 2002 for “Monster’s Ball.”

The library also has many of the best picture award winners, from “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) to “A Beautiful Mind” (2002), and many others, past and present.

Call your local branch for more information on available titles.

▪ Central Library — 941-748-5555;

▪ Braden River — 941-727-6079;

▪ Island — 941-778-6341;

▪ Palmetto — 941-722-3333;

▪ Rocky Bluff — 941-723-4821;

▪ South Manatee — 941-755-3892.

You also can access the library via the internet at mymanatee.org/library.

David Breakfield is a Central Library librarian. Speaking Volumes, written by Manatee County Public Library System staff members, is published each Sunday in the Bradenton Herald.

This story was originally published May 10, 2019 at 11:44 AM.