February 6, 2013
The
Portland observer
Black History Month
Segregationist Senator’s
Secret Daughter Dies
Woman waited
decades to reveal
her parentage
(A P) — E ssie M ae W ash in g
to n - W illia m s , th e m ix e d - r a c e
d aughter o f one-tim e seg reg atio n
ist Sen. Strom T hurm ond w ho kept
h er parentage secret for m ore than
70 years, has died. She w as 87.
V ann D ozier o f L e e v y ’s F uneral
H om e in C olum bia said W ash in g
ton-W illiam s died Sunday. A cause
o f death w as not given.
W ashin g to n -W illiam s w as the
d a u g h te r o f T h u rm o n d an d his
fam ily's black m aid. T he identity
o f h er fam ous fath er w as rum o red
for decades in political circles and
the black com m unity. She later said
she kept his secret because, “H e
trusted m e, and I respected h im .”
N ot until after T hurm ond ’ s death
in 2003 at age 100 did W ash in g
to n -W illiam s co m e fo rw ard and
say h er father w as the w hite m an
w ho ran for president on a seg reg a
tionist platform and served in the
U .S. Senate for m ore than 47 years.
“ I am E ssie M ae W ashington-
W illiam s, and at last I am com -
EssLe Mae Washington-Williams
p le te ly fre e ,” W a s h in g to n -W ill
iam s said at a new s co n feren ce
revealing h er secret.
S h e w as b o rn in 1925 a fte r
T h u rm ond, then 22, had an affair
w ith a 16-year-old b lack m aid w ho
w orked in his fam ily's E dgefield,
S.C ., hom e. She spent years as a
sch o o l te a c h e r in L os A n g eles,
k eeping in touch w ith h e r fam ous
fath er.
W hile T h u rm o n d n ev er publicly
a c k n o w le d g e d his d a u g h ter, his
fam ily a c k n o w le d g e d h e r c laim
after she cam e forw ard. She later
said T h u rm o n d ’s w idow , N ancy,
w as “a very w onderful p erso n ,” and
called Strom T h u rm o n d Jr. “very
carin g , an d in terested in w h a t’s
going on w ith m e.”
W a s h in g to n - W illi a m s w a s
Page 23
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At Budget we
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raised by M ary and John W ash in g
ton in C oatesville, Pa. W hen she
w as 13, M ary W ashington's sister,
C arrie B utler, told E ssie M ae that
she w as h er m other.
W a s h in g to n - W illia m s
m et
T hurm ond fo r the first tim e a few
y e a rs la te r in a law o ff ic e in
T h u r m o n d ’s
h o m e to w n
of
E dgefield.
“ H e n ev er called my m o th er by
h er nam e. H e d id n ’t verbally ac
know ledge that 1 w as his ch ild ,”
W ashington-W illiam s w rote in her
autobiography, “D ear Senator: A
M em o ir by the D au g h ter o f Strom
T hurm ond.”
“H e d id n ’t ask w hen I w as leav
ing and d id n ’t invite m e to com e
back. It w as like an audience w ith
an im portant m an, a jo b interview ,
but not a reunion w ith a fath er,” she
said in the book released January
2005.
It w as the first o f m any visits
b e tw e e n W a s h in g to n -W illia m s
and h er father.
H e supported her, paying for h er
to attend then-South C aro lin a State
C ollege at the sam e tim e T h urm ond
Was governor. H e also h elp ed her
later after she w as w idow ed in the
19 6 0 s.
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