BALTIMORE — Tracing your family’s roots may seem like a daunting task, especially if you’re African American. Linda Dorsey-Walker is on a quest to know more about her father’s side of the family.
“My father was Robert Wilson Dorsey,” Linda says. “His father was Howard Wilson Dorsey. His father was Howard Leslie Dorsey. He was, according to the 1860 census, a 7-year-old boy living a household owned by a white family.”
So we came here, to the genealogy library at the Maryland Center for History and Culture in Baltimore. Our library guide is Micah Connor.
“You can look up, say a name like the Dorseys or the Howards or the Lloyds or the Tilghmans if you know that you’re connected to one of these big Maryland landowning families,” says Micah, a library associate.
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This library has more than 7 million unique documents, plus several thousand collections of manuscripts, photographs and books. Since he knew Linda was coming, Micah dug out some materials about the Dorseys.
“I’m gonna assume that this is the Dr. Robert Dorsey you’re referring to,” Micah says. “He’s the only one in the cards referred to Baltimore County.”
“Yeah, it says Baltimore County,” Linda says.
Researching your family tree is like putting together a giant puzzle. Each document a piece that makes the picture of your family clearer.
“Now, to actually see his name typed with information here, and know that he’s, he’s in these books, and more information,” says Linda.
If your family has been in Maryland for a century or longer and you want to know more about your ancestors, it’s worth a visit to the genealogy library here.
Ask Linda.
“It just makes me want to dig even deeper to find out more about this family, that led to our family,” Linda says.
The main reading room is open Wednesday through Friday from 10 to 5. If you want to see some of the archival materials like Micah showed us, those collections are by appointment only. For more information about the genealogy library, go here; or African American genealogy in Maryland, go here.
