Thurmond family acknowledges parental claim

e-mail this story Related Previous coverage • Woman says she's Strom Thurmond's illegitimate daughter

The senator was at one time one of the nation's most vocal advocates of racial segregation.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams, a 78-year-old retired Los Angeles teacher, said in a story Sunday in The Washington Post that she decided to set the record straight for the sake of history.

"We hope this acknowledgment will bring closure for Ms. Williams," according to the statement released through J. Mark Taylor, the West Columbia attorney handling Thurmond's estate. Calls to Thurmond's son, U.S. Attorney Strom Thurmond Jr., were not returned.

Washington-Williams is not seeking any money from Thurmond's estate, said Glenn Walters of Orangeburg, one of her lawyers. She has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Adams Mark Hotel in Columbia.

"Essie Mae has a great story to tell and it's about a great man, her father," he said. "Most of her life she has had to deny this issue. Right now she's 78 and she wants some closure."

The Thurmond family released this statement: "As J. Strom Thurmond has passed away and cannot speak for himself, the Thurmond family acknowledges Ms. Essie Mae Washington-Williams' claim to her heritage. We hope this acknowledgment will bring closure for Ms. Williams."

Washington-Williams could not be reached for comment.

Thurmond died June 26 at the age of 100. He was the oldest and longest-serving U.S. senator when he left office this year. He also served as a former governor and state judge in South Carolina.

Walters said Washington-Williams has proof Thurmond was her father, including written documents. He said information about the documents would be detailed later.

Walters called the Thurmond family's acknowledgment "great news." Washington-Williams had been told what the family said.

"This is not about money," he said. "This is not about inheritance. What this story is about is a lady who is going to come forward and state who her father is."

The family's acknowledgment could allow people of mixed-race heritage to come forward without facing battles over their claims in the future, said Annette Gordon-Reed, a New York University professor and author of a book about President Thomas Jefferson and his relationship with a slave.

"She didn't have to fight to prove it," Gordon-Reed said. "I think it is a pretty amazing thing and an honorable thing for the family to do."

Gordon-Reed said affairs between blacks and whites in the old South were more common than people think.

"You have to look at black people today to see that we are all different colors," she said. "That is a modern day phenomenon."

Walters said Washington-Williams mother worked in Thurmond's house in Edgefield.

He said Thurmond provided financial support to Washington-Williams throughout her life, including money to attend South Carolina State University.

Thurmond had two daughters and two sons with his second wife, Nancy Moore Thurmond. His first wife, Jean, died.

Thurmond's will, valued at the time of filing at approximately $200,000, was split among family, friends and workers. Any cash remaining after specific bequests were made was to go to the three surviving children. The Thurmonds' oldest daughter, Nancy, was killed in an accident in 1993.

Thurmond's daughter, Julie Thurmond Whitmer, of Washington, D.C., is to receive $50,000 from the estate, the largest cash bequest.

Thurmond ran for the presidency as a segregationist, but later in life became a proponent of equal rights.

Gordon-Reed said the news of an illegitimate child will not change views on him among blacks.

"They are never surprised by these kinds of things," she said. "They made up their minds on him a long time ago."

The perception may change among some whites, who considered Thurmond a champion of segregation, but as it turns out supported a daughter he had with a black woman, she said.

"It may make him seem less, but I don't know. It is too early to say," Gordon-Reed said.

Sarah-Jane Mathieu, a Princeton University history professor, said it shouldn't be surprising that Thurmond held a public face for segregation, but in private acted differently.

"Saying one thing and doing another is nothing new for politicians," she said.