Mixed-race woman daughter of segregationist Senator

A 78-year-old mixed-race woman plans to reveal that she is the illegitimate daughter of the late United States Senator Strom Thurmond, once the nation's leading segregationist, the Washington Post reported.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams, whose mother worked as a maid in the Thurmond family home as a teenager, has long been the subject of speculation and has always denied that she is Thurmond's child.

But she plans to hold a news conference next week "to bring closure".

Williams said Thurmond had privately acknowledged her as his daughter and provided financial support since 1941.