Essie Mae Washington-Williams (born October 12, 1925) is the oldest known daughter of the United States segregationist politician Senator Strom Thurmond. Washington-Williams was born to a young Thurmond and an African-American household servant of the Thurmond family named Carrie Butler. Washington-Williams was raised in Pennsylvania by her aunt (mother's sister) and uncle; she is named Essie after her aunt.
Washington-Williams met her father in 1941 at the age of 16. She later went to college at South Carolina State College (now a university), reportedly with financial help from her father. Washington-Williams graduated from SCSU around 1946 with a degree in business. She later moved to Los Angeles, California, raised her four children, then went on to teach typing in the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1967 through 1997. Washington-Williams still lives in Los Angeles to this day. Washington-Williams has two sons and two daughters (three children live in the Seattle, Washington area, one daughter lives near Los Angeles).
She has indicated that she will be active on behalf of the Black Patriots Foundation , which is building a monument on the National Mall in Washington D.C. to honor African Americans who served in the American Revolutionary War. She has also applied to join the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a geneological society for the descendants of American Civil War. [1]
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Last updated: 09-12-2005 02:39:13
