Essie Mae Washington-Williams
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Essie Mae Washington-Williams (born October 12, 1925) is the oldest child of the late United States Senator Strom Thurmond.[1] Essie Mae was born illegitimately to Carrie Butler, a 16-year-old household servant, and Thurmond, then 22 and unmarried. Washington-Williams did not reveal her true parentage until after Thurmond's death in 2003, when she was 78 years old.
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[edit] Early life and education
Essie Mae Washington was the natural daughter of the Thurmond family's son Strom and their young African-American servant Carrie Butler. Butler, only 16(15 when her daughter was conceived) when her daughter was born, sent her to be raised in Pennsylvania by her older sister Mary and her husband John Washington. Essie Mae called them Mother and Father. She was named Essie after another of her mother's sisters, who fostered her briefly as an infant.
Essie Mae was unaware of her ancestry until the age of 16, when Carrie Butler told her about it and took Essie Washington to meet Thurmond in person.[2] That meeting took place in 1941.
[edit] Career
Washington and her mother met infrequently with Thurmond after that, although they had some contact for years.[3] She returned to the segregated South when she went to college at South Carolina State University (SCSU), a historically black college. Thurmond paid for her college education there. Washington-Williams graduated from SCSU around 1946 with a degree in business. During the years of the Civil Rights Movement, she had occasionally tried to talk with Thurmond about racism, but he brushed off her complaints about segregated facilities and was notorious for his long support of segregation.[4]
She later moved to Los Angeles, California, where she earned a master's in education at the University of Southern California.[5] She went on for a full career as a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1967 through 1997.[6]
Washington-Williams still lives in Los Angeles. She is a longtime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. (Alpha Xi chapter-South Carolina State University)
[edit] Marriage and family
Washington married Julius T. Williams in 1948. They had two sons and two daughters together. Three live in the Seattle, Washington area, and one daughter lives near Los Angeles. Williams died in 1964.
[edit] Legacy
When Washington-Williams announced her family connection, it was acknowledged by the Thurmond family.[7] She stated she would apply for membership in the United Daughters of the Confederacy, based on her heritage through Strom Thurmond. Washington-Williams encouraged other African Americans to do so as well, in the interests of exploring their heritage and promoting a more inclusive view of Southern history. The genealogical society is for descendants of Confederate veterans of the American Civil War. Thurmond had been a member of the male counterpart group, Sons of Confederate Veterans, so had completed the required genealogical documentation.[8]
When her autobiography was published in 2005, Washington-Williams indicated that she intended to be active on behalf of the Black Patriots Foundation, which is building a monument on the National Mall in Washington D.C. to honor American blacks who served in the American Revolutionary War.[8]
Washington-Williams' name was added to the list of other Thurmond children on a monument for Senator Thurmond on the South Carolina Statehouse grounds.[8]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Janofsky, Michael. “Thurmond Kin Acknowledge Black Daughter", New York Times, Dec. 16. 2004
- ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey. “Final Word: 'My Father's Name Was James Strom Thurmond", Dec. 18, 2003
- ^ Janet Maslin, "A Thurmond Child Looks at Her Life and His Racism", New York Times, January 17, 2005, accessed 27 Mar 2009
- ^ "A Thurmond Child Looks at Her Life and His Racism", New York Times, January 17, 2005
- ^ http://www.strom.clemson.edu/events/notices/essiemae.pdf
- ^ "A Thurmond Child Looks at Her Life and His Racism", New York Times, January 17, 2005
- ^ Janofsky, Michael. “Thurmond Kin Acknowledge Black Daughter", New York Times, Dec. 16. 2004
- ^ a b c "Daughter of late Sen. Strom Thurmond to join Confederacy group", Jet, 19 Jul 2004, accessed 26 Mar 2009
[edit] Further reading
- Essie Mae Washington-Williams and William Stadiem, Dear Senator : A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond, Regan Books, 2005. ISBN 0-06-076095-8.
- Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson, Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond, University of South Carolina Press, 2003. ISBN 1-57003-514-8.
- Jack Bass and Marilyn W.Thompson, Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond, Public Affairs, 2005. ISBN 1-58648-297-1.
[edit] External links
- 'Dear Senator,' from Strom Thurmond's Daughter, Interview, National Public Radio, February 1, 2005.
- Essie Mae Washington-Williams, Interview, Dan Rather on CBS 60 Minutes II, December 17, 2003
- "South Carolina: Biracial Child Added To Thurmond Monument", New York Times, June 29, 2004
