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Date Published: December 18, 2003
Thurmond's daughter returns to South Carolina
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The Associated Press
Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond and a black maid who worked in his family home, leaves a news conference Wednesday in Columbia. Standing with her is attorney Frank K. Wheaton, left, and her daughter, Wanda Terry.
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By BRADEN BUNCH
Item Staff Writer
bradenb@theitem.com
COLUMBIA – Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the oldest daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, appeared publicly Wednesday in South Carolina for the first time since revealing her lineage.
Speaking at the Adam's Mark Hotel to hundreds of reporters and onlookers from all over the nation, the 78-year-old biracial daughter of the former segregationist expressed relief in revealing the family secret she has known and kept since 1941.
"There is a great sense of peace that has come over me the past year," she said in preparing for the public revelation. "I am Essie Mae Washington-Williams, and at last I feel completely free."
Born to Carrie Butler, a black maid who worked for the Thurmond family in the 1920s, Washington-Williams said she was quickly taken from her mother to Pennsylvania to live with her aunt and uncle when she was 6 months old, and did not meet Thurmond until she was 16 years old when she was taken by her mother to meet the then 38-year-old lawyer at his office.
It was on that day that she learned not only who her father was, but that she came from parents of two different races.
And it was after that meeting, Washington-Williams said, that she vowed never to damage her father’s career in any way, shape or form.
“I certainly never did like the fact that he was a segregationist, but that was his life,” Washington-Williams said. “There wasn’t anything I could do to change it.”
She did say, however, that she had met with Thurmond several times while he was in Washington and that they had discussed race relations, adding that the senator said he was doing what he could in his position.
“My father did a lot of things to help other people,” she said, adding that she felt her father only became a segregationist because of the political atmosphere at the time and believed that his ‘conversion’ later in his career to support civil rights measures was a true reflection of the man.
“I knew him beyond his public image,” Washington-Williams said.
When asked how she thought her father would respond to her publicity, she said, “I’m sure that he is at peace.”
The newly found daughter, whose existence had been rumored for years, also confirmed that Thurmond had financially supported her both during her college years at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg and after her husband died, but also said in her announcement she was not seeking any more money from the Thurmond estate.
“I am not bitter. I am not angry,” Washington-Williams said, adding that she hopes to help other families with similar pasts. “I know there are thousands of people in relationships of this type.”
Washington-Williams now lives in Los Angeles and said she began writing an autobiography a few years ago.
Her lawyer, California-based Frank K. Wheaton, said Washington-Williams has received several book offers, and, in a news release distributed before Wednesday’s event, called her story “… an all-American classic in book form and certainly a monumental epic for television or screen.”
Wheaton, through his company The Management Group, represents several celebrities and athletes.
No one from the Thurmond family attended the news conference, but Wheaton said a meeting between Washington-Williams and the other members of Thurmond’s family could happen “as early as today.”
“I don’t think I would want to do that (right) now,” Washington-Williams said, referring to the meeting, “but I think I’d like to in a more private setting.”
On Monday the Thurmond family issued a statement through their lawyers recognizing Washington-Williams’ heritage.
Despite the news of Washington-Williams’ claim coming out earlier in the week, the day was still a very emotional one for both her and the rest of the family.
Her daughter, Wanda Terry, said she had known for some time that Thurmond was her grandfather and had, along with her siblings, been encouraging her mother to make the announcement. But she had not completely grasped the complexity of the situation until recently.
“The first time I said grandfather (referring to Thurmond) was just in recent weeks,” Terry said.
When asked what effect the public revelation might have on her family, Terry said, “I have no idea right now, it’s so overwhelming.”
“My sons are still trying to comprehend it right now, because we never discussed it,” Terry said.
Wednesday’s event was also a visibly emotional event for many of those in attendance, and on several occasions the crowd gathered in the large conference room applauded Washington-Williams.
The Rev. Allen Jacobs Jr., pastor of the New William Street Baptist Church in Columbia, attended the news conference hoping to get a chance to meet Washington-Williams, saying her actions during the past week were courageous.
“I shook her hand. Wow. That was great,” he said. “That was like an extension of shaking Sen. Thurmond’s hand.”
Jacobs said the revelation would definitely change, but eventually improve, Thurmond’s legacy.
“He did the principled thing and provided for his child,” Jacobs said. “Her elegance today was an extension of him.”
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January 16, 2004
NAACP
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