Feb 5, 2005 2 min read

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Knowing his own family history, Dwight Hanna identifies with Essie Mae Washington Williams, the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and the Thurmond family’s black maid. Hanna’s grandmother was the child of a white father and a black domestic worker – a story not so unusual in the South.

“Whether we accept it or not, it happened. It’s not as shocking to Southerners because we’re aware of it from having stories passed down,” said Hanna, who was among hundreds of people willing to wait Friday evening for Williams to sign copies of her book, “Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond.”

The biracial daughter of the one-time segregationist and Carrie Butler, a black maid for the Thurmond family, is in the middle of a promotion tour for the book.

Williams revealed she was Thurmond’s daughter six months after Thurmond died at age 100.

Thurmond was 22 and Butler was 16 when Williams was born in Aiken in 1925.

“The story itself is intriguing and a part of South Carolina history,” said Hanna, who worked as an intern for Thurmond in 1977. “The way she has shown poise and grace is really just out of the utmost respect. In revealing the story, she has been positive.”

Phoebia Cooper, 29, brought her two children to witness “a great example of black history.”

The memoir offers some insight into Williams’ conflicted relationship with Thurmond, who gave financial support and met privately with his daughter while supporting segregation as a presidential candidate for the State’s Rights Party in 1948. Nearly a decade later, he set the Senate record for filibustering when he spoke against a bill to end discrimination in housing.

Thurmond eventually softened his political stance and renounced racism.