With little fanfare, Essie Mae Washington Williams, accompanied by her daughter, returned three months ago to her roots in Edgefield County. According to a front-page article in the weekly Edgefield Advertiser -- which ran several days after her departure -- she visited the grave of her late father, U.S. Sen. J. Strom Thurmond, and paid calls on relatives and friends of both her parents. This week, her name was added to that of the four other Thurmond children on the senator's monument on the Statehouse grounds in Columbia. What also should be recorded for posterity is what a remarkable woman Essie Mae Washington Williams is in her own right.
From the day last year when Mrs. Williams decided to confirm a long-standing rumor that the nation's oldest and longest-serving senator had a biracial child -- the daughter of a maid in the Thurmond household -- she has been a model of decorum.
The retired schoolteacher decided to go public only after the senator's retirement and death at age 100. Her words have always been measured and gracious, and she has told her story without rancor. During her visit to Edgefield, she told the Advertiser that she hadn't been there in nearly 65 years, having visited the senator there when she was 16. In recent months, she has confirmed contact between the two during the ensuing years, including visits to his Washington office.
After she confirmed what had been long suspected, the other members of the senator's immediate family have been equally gracious. While in Edgefield, the Advertiser reported Mrs. Williams' daughter met for the first time with her great aunt, the senator's 95-year-old sister, Mary Tompkins.
Mrs. Williams hasn't refused the spotlight, but she has chosen her appearances and her words carefully. She has been so impressive that the Legislature's endorsement of the proposal to add her name to the Thurmond monument was a foregone conclusion. It was, of course, her due. But her fine character has made it a particularly satisfying event.
Click here to return to story:
http://www.charleston.net/stories/070304/edi_03edit2.shtml