Woman claims Strom Thurmond as father

Oklahoma City Sun Saturday 13th December, 2003

After decades of denial, a 78-year-old woman now says she really is the mixed-race illegitimate daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond.

The Washington Post reported in its Sunday edition that Essie Mae Washington-Williams, a retired Los Angeles school teacher, said the senator provided for her support since 1941 and acknowledged the relationship to her.

Her mother, Carrie Butler, cleaned house for the Thurmond household in Edgefield, S.C., when, at 16, she gave birth in 1925.

Thurmond, then 22, a teacher and high school coach, left town to sell real estate.

When he returned he studied law and built a political career in which for a time he was the nation's leading segregationist. Her mother took her to Coatesville, Pa., outside Philadelphia.

Although reported on and occasionally made the subject of political scuttlebutt, Washington had denied the relationship out of what she said was respect for Thurmond. She will hold a news conference Wednesday.