With those words Wednesday, a 78-year-old retired Los Angeles school teacher brought to an end the speculation and rumors that have long made up one of the state's worst-kept secrets -- that she was the illegitimate, mixed-race child of the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond.

Washington-Williams made the announcement to about 300 people during a press conference at the Adam's Mark hotel, but the news came as no surprise to anyone in the state.

Though it has been decades since Washington-williams called South Carolina home, she has never really left. She has lived here as rumor and innuendo, an ironic wink to the truth behind one of the country's staunchest segregationists.

For years, Washington-Williams remained silent on the matter, never confirming what most knew to be true. But earlier this week, some six months after Thurmond's death, she acknowledged her heritage publicly for the first time.

In a Washington Post story this weekend, Washington-Williams said she was born in 1925 to Carrie Butler, a 16-year-old maid in the Thurmond family's Edgefield home. Thurmond was a 22-year-old teacher living at home with his parents.

Shortly after her birth, Washington-Williams was sent to live with an aunt in Pennsylvania.

She was 16 before she first met her real father, but over the years the two developed a congenial, if not close, relationship -- one based on mutual respect and trust.

"Throughout his life and mine, we respected each other," Washington-Williams said. "I never wanted to do anything to harm him. I was sensitive about his well-being and his career and his family here in South Carolina."The Thurmond family responded to Williams' announcement quickly, saying they accepted her claim and looked forward to meeting with her personally, which seemed to put an end to the need for continued speculation, as well as Wednesday's press conference.

But as Williams took the stage, it became clear that her announcement, made here, in South Carolina, was meant to be more cathartic than revealing.

"My children deserved to know from whom, where and what they have come," said a clearly emotional Williams. "It is their right to know and to understand the rich history of their ancestry -- black and white. At this juncture in my life, I am looking for closure. I am not bitter. I am not angry. A great sense of peace has come over me this year, once I decided that I would no longer harbor such a great secret."

Her words were met with loud applause, as many of those gathered in the hotel ballroom expressed both support and understanding of the secret she had kept.

"There are a lot of people in this state who have had just the same experience," said Mary Price Coleman. "I am just so proud of what she had done here today."

Coleman did not know Williams personally, but like many of those at the Adam's Mark hotel Wednesday, she had long been aware of her story.

Several books on Thurmond have addressed Williams and her place in the Thurmond family tree, but before her name was ever put to paper, many in the state's black community were well aware of her existence. Her announcement Wednesday seemed to be as much for them as it was for her.

"She is such a classy lady," Coleman said. "Both she and the Thurmond family have handled this with grace and dignity."

Shortly after the press conference, the Thurmond family attorney, Mark Taylor, issued a statement that read, "The extended Thurmond family wants to arrange a meeting with Ms. Williams and her children as soon as practicable in a quiet setting."

Frank Wheaton, Williams' attorney, said they fully expected to meet with the Thurmonds, perhaps as early as that afternoon.

As for the future, Wheaton said Williams has been working on a book of her life and has been contacted by several publishers.

"I'm just glad it's out in the open now," said Wanda Terry, Williams' daughter. "It's a bit overwhelming, all of this attention, but at least now we can talk about this."

Also Wednesday, state Sen. Robert Ford pre-filed a bill with the S.C. General Assembly that would add Williams' name to the list of children on all Strom Thurmond monuments on public property.

"Late in his life Sen. Thurmond changed and became a part of the new South," Ford said. "If his family, who has accepted Ms. Williams, can live in the new South, then it is up to the members of the General Assembly to do the same thing."

Clay Barbour covers the Statehouse. Contact him at 803-799-9051 or cbarbour@postandcourier.com.

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