(Columbia, South Carolina-AP) Dec. 17, 2003 -The 78-year-old, mixed-race daughter of the late Senator Strom Thurmond was given a standing ovation when she was introduced Wednesday morning at a press conference at the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Columbia.

She told the crowd, "My father's name was James Strom Thurmond." Thurmond, the one time Dixiecrat who ran for office on segregationist policies , was long rumored to have a biracial daughter.

"At this juncture in my life, I am looking for closure. I am not bitter. I am not angry. In fact, there's a great sense of peace that has come over me in the past year. Once I decided that I would no longer harbor such a great secret that many others knew, I feel as though a tremendous weight has been lifted. I am Essie Mae Washington-Williams, and at last I feel completely free."

Essie Mae Washington-Williams says she didn't want to hurt Strom Thurmond's career, something she believes could have changed history, explaining why she kept silent until now about her claim that she is the one-time segregationist senator's daughter, born out of wedlock. She announced over the weekend she was his daughter. Thurmond died this summer at age 100.

Washington-Williams says she was born in Aiken in 1925. Williams says her mother became pregnant at age 16, while serving as a maid in the Thurmond household in Edgefield. The senator would have been about 22-years-old. Washington-Williams says she moved to Pennsylvania when she was about six months old and was adopted by a family there.

Williams says she was elated when she first met Thurmond when she was 16. She says she saw her dad about once a year and that Thurmond was good to her. She says she didn't have the close relationship that one would normally have with a parent, but she says he cared about her.

"I am sure that the question looming here today is why have I waited to come forth," Williams said Wednesday. She says she never wanted to do anything to hurt Senator Thurmond or those close to him. "It was only at the urging of my children and Senator Thurmond's passing that I decided that my children deserve the right to know from whom, where, and what they have come."

An attorney for Williams, Frank Wheaton, told NBC's "Today" show Thurmond provided some financial support to Williams throughout her life. Wheaton said Williams and Thurmond knew one another fairly well. He says the two got together at least once a year and sometimes several times a year, "I would characterize their relationship as beyond cordial. Whenever he went to Los Angeles, he would talk to her about being fit and exercising." He says Williams is grateful the Thurmond family acknowledged her claim.

She says Thurmond recommended that she enroll in South Carolina State College in Orangeburg. She majored in business education and met her husband, who was one of the first to graduate from the college's new law school.

At one point, there was a question about whether Mrs. Williams would like to see her name on the monuments that bear the Thurmond children names. There are many Thurmond monuments around South Carolina, including one particularly large one on the State House grounds. Williams said she wouldn't mind having her name listed.

She says she has been working on book for several years and a quick look at the production around her announcements indicates there is going to be considerable legal and promotional muscle behind her efforts to bring her story to the public.

Wheaton, an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, issued a press release describing her story as something that is sure to become an all-American classic once it reaches bookstores and certainly a monumental epic for television or screen.

Wheaton says he will spend the next few days in New York, talking with potential publishers. He told WIS what he'll be looking for, "The key is to see what publisher will grant her the greatest opportunity to tell her story, to share her story with the American public who seem to be so interested and fascinated with it."

Wheaton also said he thinks Halle Berry would be a good choice for the starring role if a movie is made of the story.

Some of the news agencies that were at the news conference were, in fact, publishing houses. The major publishing houses were apparently asked to appear at the news conference.

Thurmond's family has said it has no reason to doubt Williams' claims, and the former senator's oldest son, US Attorney Strom Thurmond, Junior, says he would like to meet his half sister and start a relationship but would prefer to do it in private. Williams said Wednesday, "Maybe I could meet with them in a quiet setting." Through an attorney, the Thurmond family said they would do so as soon as was "practicable."

Williams has more than a dozen grandchilden and some great grandchildren. Reporters asked her how she felt when Thurmond's family presented him with his baby grandchild shortly before he died.

She said, "I always knew I had the first grandchild." 

Thurmond's widow, Nancy, would not speak to the media.

Reported by Jack Kuenzie
Updated 9:23pm by BrettWitt