South Carolina State College California State University, Los Angeles (BA) University of Southern California (MEd)
Occupation
Teacher
Spouse
Julius T. Williams
(m. 1948; died 1964)
Children
4
Parent(s)
Strom Thurmond (father) Carrie Butler (mother)
Relatives
James Strom Thurmond Jr. (half-brother) Paul Thurmond (half-brother)
Essie Mae Williams (née Butler; October 12, 1925 – February 4, 2013) was an American teacher and author. She is best known as the eldest child of Strom Thurmond, Governor of South Carolina (1947–1951) and longtime United States senator, known for his pro-segregation politics.[1] Of mixed race, she was born to Carrie Butler, a 16-year-old African-American girl who worked as a domestic servant for Thurmond's parents, and Thurmond, then 22 and unmarried. Williams grew up in the family of one of her mother's sisters, not learning of her biological parents until 1938 when her mother came for a visit and informed Essie Mae she was her mother.[2]: 13 She graduated from college, earned a master's degree, married, raised a family, and had a 30-year professional career in education.
Essie Mae Williams did not reveal her father's identity until she was almost 78 years old, after Thurmond's death at the age of 100 in 2003. Though he had little to do with her upbringing, he had paid for her college education and took an interest in her and her family all his life. In 2005, she published her autobiography, Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond, which was nominated for the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.
^Janofsky, Michael. "Thurmond Kin Acknowledge Black Daughter", The New York Times, December 16, 2004.
^Washington-Williams, Essie Mae (2005). Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond. Harper.
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EssieMaeWilliams (née Butler; October 12, 1925 – February 4, 2013) was an American teacher and author. She is best known as the eldest child of Strom...
family confirmed that Thurmond fathered a mixed-race daughter named EssieMaeWilliams with Butler. While her paternity was long hidden, he helped support...
New Zealand author EssieMae Washington-Williams (1925–2013), the oldest child of the late United States Senator Strom Thurmond Essie Weingarten (born 1949)...
siblings, he was also the half-brother (through his father) of the late EssieMaeWilliams, who was 50 years his senior. "Paul Reynolds Thurmond..." Eugene Register-Guard...
S (2003, 2004) with George Jacobs Dear Senator (2009) with EssieMae Washington-Williams Everybody Eats There (2007) with Maria Gibbs ""Food for Thought...
also dies, and the cycle repeats: in 1925, Essie is taken in by Ernest and Laura Malinsky, Laura dies, and Essie marries Ernest, seeking higher social status...
the target of Wando's outrage. Supporting Cast: Adam Williams as Dr. Cullen, Eve McVeagh as Mae, Steve Peck (credited as Steven Peccaro) as Tony Wando...
Angeles and Chicago areas. Banks was born in Dallas, Texas, to Eddie and Essie Banks on January 31, 1931; he was the second of twelve children. His father...
on the house's history and discovers the original owners, Clarence and Essie McCorsley, are haunting the old house. The couple hire a paranormal investigating...
Rhodes. Jones also killed Regina Harrison and Lori Barrett in Florida. Williams was previously convicted of murdering Dominique Hurd and Jerrell Jenkins...
Carlotta Vance 2004 (58th) Audra McDonald A Raisin in the Sun Ruth Younger Essie Davis Jumpers Dotty Sanaa Lathan A Raisin in the Sun Beneatha Younger Margo...
(Tulalip, born 1970), activist and former vice-chair of the Tulalip Tribes Essie Parrish (Kashaya Pomo, 1902–1979), basket weaver, author Elise Paschen (Osage...
with the Whitman Sisters company. In 1933, she and her half-sister, Willa Mae Lane, formed the LeGon and Lane song-and-dance team. They were given the...
Melba Moore, Mitchah Williams, Mickey Jones, Dave Sheridan, Rue McClanahan, Lil Zane, Mae Middleton, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, Eric Nolan Grant, Darrell...
throughout the islands. Engineer turned detective Greg McKenzie (Grant Williams), joins the agency later on as a full partner, while hotel social director...
Show, The Hollywood Palace, Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall and The Andy Williams Show. She was a panelist on 230 episodes of the long-running game show...
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