An appearance by Essie Mae Washington Williams, the daughter of the late, racist U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and “the Thurmond family’s black maid,” drew hundreds of people to a bookstore in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday night. In an Associated Press wire story, reporter Julie Halenar asked people why they were waiting in line for Williams to sign their copies of her book, Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond. Phoebia Cooper, 29 said she brought her two children to witness “a great example of black history.” Dwight Hanna, himself the child of a white father and black mother, says, “The story itself is intriguing and a part of South Carolina history. The way she has shown poise and grace is really just out of the utmost respect. In revealing the story, she has been positive.”