We have not known the truth," said Williams. In contrast to, say, George “I Was Wrong” Wallace, Thurmond has always been an ornery redemption project. "I think we should know the truth about both sides. First the statistics. The South Carolina Republican ran for president in 1948 on a segregationist platform, although he later in life supported a holiday for Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader. But he changed his mind after being moved by Williams' story. "I have no interest in joining," said Kevin Washington, 46. We hope this acknowledgment will bring closure for Ms. Thurmond ran for president in 1948 on the ticket of the States Rights Party, the "Dixiecrats," a breakaway faction of Southern Democrats who believed strongly in racial segregation and were opposed to the Democratic Party's civil rights program. All contents © 2020 The Slate Group LLC. His daughter's story was published Sunday by The Washington Post. Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the 78-year-old retired Los Angeles schoolteacher who sparked a nationwide stir last December when she publicly acknowledged her identity, is one of many African Americans, including ones in the Bay Area, seeking to have their names added to the most celebrated branches of America's family tree. Williams is black. "Beyond that I don't know anything. Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson present persuasive evidence in their 1998 biography, Ol’ Strom, that Thurmond sired a daughter in 1925 with a black house servant named Essie “Tunch” Butler, with whom he reputedly had an extended relationship. You’ve run out of free articles. I think we as a country should try to come together to bring down some of that separation.". With my mother's family, it goes back only so far because of slavery.".

Mark Taylor, declined further comment. Keith Washington, 49, said that for years he shied away from joining such groups because of the way his aunt was treated by the DAR.
} else if ( host.indexOf("edition.") For Strom Thurmond's life was 20th-century American history made flesh.

According to the Post report, Washington-Williams' mother, Carrie Butler, worked as a maid at the Thurmond family home in Edgefield, South Carolina. A reactionary old ex-governor known for being good to his mulatto “yard children” was aghast that the insincere anti-Negro propaganda fomented by him and his peers might bring actual injury to its objects. Does she mean that he was even more heinous than we knew?

Strom Thurmond's secret biracial daughter dies at 87 By Alan Duke, CNN Updated 9:24 AM ET, Wed February 6, 2013 Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the mixed-race daughter of … "On my father's side, the history goes back all the way to the founding of the country and even before that. The Thurmond family attorney, J.
Or that—dude!—he wasn’t such a racist bastard after all? (Thurmond's life and times). != -1 ) { She's since been in contact with other members of the Thurmond family. Both wives (No.

Frank Wheaton, Washington-Williams' attorney, said she came forward at the urging of her children and had no plans to ask the Thurmond estate for any money, according to the Post. Williams' mother, Carrie Butler, was a 16-year-old maid who worked in the Thurmond family home when Thurmond was in his early 20s. Monday's statement from the Thurmond family reads: "As J. Strom Thurmond has passed away and cannot speak for himself, the Thurmond family acknowledges Ms. Essie Mae Washington-Williams' claim to her heritage. document.write('Wednesday, December 17, 2003 Posted: 0306 GMT (11:06 AM HKT)
<\/span>'); She meets the criteria for membership since Thurmond was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a direct descendent of someone who fought for the Confederacy. And the sign reads: “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.”. In any case, if Thurmond seemed to continually elude the harsh verdict of history, now he faces divine judgment. By joining Slate Plus you support our work and get exclusive content. The DOC is believed to have had at least one black member, although it's understood to be overwhelmingly white. Eventually, thousands were identified. An attorney for the family of former U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina confirmed Monday that in 1925, when he was 22, Thurmond fathered a child with a black teenage housekeeper.

He was 100 and the longest-serving senator in history. From David MattinglyCNN Washington Bureau

"I felt it would be interesting to explore that side of (my history).". "It's about identity," Williams said of her and her children's plans to join the Daughters of the Confederacy, Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution and the Black Patriots Foundation. host = host.toLowerCase(); She said she was inspired by the efforts of Lena Santos Ferguson of Washington, D.C., who waged a bitter four- year battle to join the Daughters of the American Revolution. Slate relies on advertising to support our journalism. Thurmond straddled all three provinces, hard though it has sometimes been to distinguish them under the ground cover of race. "We have quite a few African American members as well as Spanish members. That it was just “bidness” may account for why Strom Thurmond never felt compelled to ask the forgiveness of a race he devoted so much public capital to making miserable—a race that included members of his own family. Clymer, Adam. Their family came from a large plantation whose owners were named Butler. He received 1 million votes and carried four Deep South states; Democrat Harry Truman won the election. Or that Thurmond’s other signature political achievement—the 24-hour-without-bathroom-break filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1957—was done in the name of sparing the South from “mongrelization.” This form of duplicity has been a Southern tradition dating back to those miscegenating slave owners. "We've (African Americans) been excluded so long. "Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100."

"So many Americans have not been informed. "James Strom

"I didn't know it would become so big. And you'll never see this message again. "It was a 62-year relationship.". I think it's very important," he said. "I was in constant contact with him over the years," Williams recalled. } else if ( host.indexOf("asia.cnn.com") != -1 ) { Strom Thurmond, who died at 100 in 2003, never was outspoken about personal matters, especially the death of his daughter, said Neal Thigpen, a longtime Republican Party organizer. if ( host.indexOf("europe.cnn.com") != -1 ) { Her attorney told CNN no DNA test was done. But for some, the pain of past exclusion is still too raw.

Then again, he had always been an integrationist. "It's not that we supported slavery or the things it (the Confederacy) stood for," said Williams. } CAT, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, who announced she is the illegitimate daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond and a black maid who worked in his family home, is shown after telling her story during a news conference Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003, in Columbia, S.C. At the left is attorney Frank K. Wheaton and at second right is her daughter Wanda Terry. Williams.". Williams taught for 30 years -- 27 of them in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Thurmond died last year at age 100.

Williams said she was moved by Ferguson's struggle, and hopes her own story will spark a dialog in America, one that will benefit the entire country. If he didn’t exactly claim Essie Mae Williams, neither did he disown her. New York Times, 27 June 2003. document.write('Wednesday, December 17, 2003 Posted: 11:06 AM HKT (0306 GMT)
<\/span>'); On her mother's side, the family history goes back to her maternal grandparents and great grandparents, whose names and limited history are known. When Ferguson first tried to join the DAR, she was met with denials and open hostility. All rights reserved. (For a different angle on this, see Clarence Thomas.) You can cancel anytime. The biracial daughter of the onetime segregationist U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond wants to join the United Daughters of the Confederacy to explore her … He was both the longest-serving US Senator in American history, and the oldest to serve.