Dear Senator : A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond by Essie Mae Washington-Williams, William Stadiem (Hardcover - February 1, 2005) In Dear Senator, Essie Mae Washington-Williams -- daughter of the late Senator Strom Thurmond -- breaks her lifelong silence and tells the story of her life. Until the age of sixteen, Washington-Williams assumed that the aunt and uncle who raised her in Pennsylvania were her parents. The revelation of her true parents' identities was a shock that changed the course of her life.