On last evening my mama and I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the half African-American daughter of the late Senator Strom Thurmond. She spoke of why she kept quite for so many years, a little about her book, her strong support of education, and her current and future plans and thoughts about race relations.
She conveyed in her talk something that I don't think one can truly understand unless they cannot trace their ancestors if desired... which was... the African-American/Caucasian union to create child was very common however she was just brought to light because of the notoriety of her father. This is a message I think needed(s) to be echoed because I am into genealogy. I research in my spare time and try to talk with the older people to record as much information as I can to pass on to my descendents if it be God's will. What intrigues me personally is not so much her birth father because once she has that she can find generations of records but her mother,Carrie Butler. I would love to be able to help her find a picture of this lady to pass along to her future generations.
I suppose why this sticks out in my mind is because my great grand father, Jessie, was a child of a biracial union as well, and to insure his safety (his mother was Caucasian and father African-American... from what I have been told) his mother placed him on the doorstep of an African-American family. I suppose, and this is only an assumption, that this was safer during this time because she may have been made to get rid of the baby or she may have been disowned by her family. And like Dr. Washington-Williams stated, during earlier times children were expected to be seen and not heard henceforth if adults of this time knew the true genealogy or if children were curious it would dare not be discussed.
On last evening my mama and I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the half African-American daughter of the late Senator Strom Thurmond. She spoke of why she kept quite for so many years, a little about her book, her strong support of education, and her current and future plans and thoughts about race relations. 
She conveyed in her talk something that I don't think one can truly understand unless they cannot trace their ancestors if desired... which was... the African-American/Caucasian union to create child was very common however she was just brought to light because of the notoriety of her father. This is a message I think needed(s) to be echoed because I am into genealogy. I research in my spare time and try to talk with the older people to record as much information as I can to pass on to my descendents if it be God's will. What intrigues me personally is not so much her birth father because once she has that she can find generations of records but her mother,Carrie Butler. I would love to be able to help her find a picture of this lady to pass along to her future generations. 
I suppose why this sticks out in my mind is because my great grand father, Jessie, was a child of a biracial union as well, and to insure his safety (his mother was Caucasian and father African-American... from what I have been told) his mother placed him on the doorstep of an African-American family. I suppose, and this is only an assumption, that this was safer during this time because she may have been made to get rid of the baby or she may have been disowned by her family. And like Dr. Washington-Williams stated, during earlier times children were expected to be seen and not heard henceforth if adults of this time knew the true genealogy or if children were curious it would dare not be discussed.
1 comment:
Essie Mae Washington-Williams (the daughter of Strom Thurmond and Carrie Butler) is like the Elizabeth Key Grinstead of the 20th century. Grinstead is the daughter of Thomas Key (a white man) and Martha (a black woman) and she married to a white man William Grinstead.
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