Strom Thurmond's Bi-Racial Daughter Dead at 87

The bi-racial daughter of South Carolina's longest serving politician has died.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams, 87, died Monday, Leevy's Funeral Home in Columbia told The Associated Press.

Washington-Williams, the daughter of the late U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, kept the name of her biological father a secret for nearly 70 years. Six months after Thurmond's death in 2003 at the age of 100, Washington-Williams came forward and revealed that Thurmond was her father. Her mother had been the family's maid.

Thurmond, who served the state as Governor from 1947-1951, was a staunch advocate for segregation, a major part of his platform during his 1948 presidential run. He served South Carolina as a U.S. Senator from 1954-2003, making him the third longest serving Senator in U.S. History.

Washington-Williams wrote about her relationship with her father in a memoir published after his death, "Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond."

Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced later by Leevy's Funeral Home, AP reported.