Shirley Temple Black’s Family Makes Major Gift To Academy Museum

Shirley Temple’s tap shoes and practice steps, given to her by Bill “Bojangles” Robinson during production of The Little Colonel, 1935, their first on-screen partnership, in which they performed the famous stair dance.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it has received a gift valued at more than $5 million from the late Oscar-winning Hollywood actress and United States Ambassador Shirley Temple Black and her family.

This gift includes both a substantial monetary contribution to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ capital campaign as well as key artifacts from Shirley Temple Black’s indelible early career. To recognize this gift and honor the star’s legendary childhood contribution to entertainment, the Academy Museum’s education center will be named The Shirley Temple Education Studio.

“Shirley Temple Black captivated audiences as an actor and her work as a diplomat touched countless lives,” said Bob Iger, who is chairing the Academy Museum’s capital campaign along with co-chairs Annette Bening and Tom Hanks. “Her gift to the Academy Museum ensures her work will continue to inspire future generations of film lovers.”

The Shirley Temple Education Studio will be the center of the Museum’s dynamic education program, which will draw upon the expertise of Academy members, artists, and scholars in a range of disciplines to explore cinema history and the collaborative process of filmmaking. The program will provide hands-on workshops in moviemaking techniques, as well as inspire creativity and critical thinking. A core feature of the program will be its teen initiative, serving students from diverse backgrounds in the greater Los Angeles area.

“Our mother believed that the Academy Museum project will provide the key to broader public understanding both of the movie industry’s history and of its future,” said the Black family. “We are so pleased with the Academy’s naming of the Shirley Temple Education Studio, and again encourage our mother’s many admirers to join us in supporting the Museum and its new Education Studio with a donation honoring her memory.”

Shirley Temple’s Juvenile Oscar, awarded to her by the Academy in 1935.

In addition to financial support, this generous gift includes unique objects such as: the miniature Oscar presented to Shirley Temple at the 1934 Academy Awards in recognition of her screen work that year; the tap shoes and portable wooden practice-steps given to her by legendary dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson for their famed stair dance routine in 1934’s “The Little Colonel”; the star’s first set-chair from Fox Studios; and the ornate Los Angeles public-school system desk she used for her daily lessons on the Fox lot.

“We know Academy Museum visitors will be elated to see these treasures,” said Kerry Brougher, Academy Museum director. “This generous gift is a significant addition to our collection. The Shirley Temple Education Studio will provide students with opportunities to build meaningful connections with the finest creative minds in filmmaking today.”

The Academy is currently raising $388 million to support the building, exhibitions, and programs of the Academy Museum. The capital campaign was launched in 2012 and is chaired by Bob Iger and co-chaired by Annette Bening and Tom Hanks. The Academy has already secured more than $250 million in pledges from more than 1,300 individual donors globally.

Shirley Temple’s first Fox Studio set chair.

Photos: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S.