The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-06
MANY ARE CRAZY ABOUT GENEALOGy  Woman in Washington Ex- pert on Subject -'ft-sfA - HER EXPERIENCES Is Employed at Congressional Library and Knows More About Heraldry
 Than Any Other Person
 in America
EXPERIENCES
From the New York Evening Post

| that oVerhangS the reading room ol l the Congressional library in Washing
 ton The light from big window
 above falls full upon her, showing you, | if you glance that way her strong
 and dignified profile her genteel black
 gown and the old fashioned, grand
 motherly cape about her shoulders.
 "Who is she?'' I ono day asked of the | socialist who often occupies a desl,
 next to the one I have..c come to call
 mine. He looked up with a frown from some outlandfsh volue of Rebels. q have been doing research work
 here for 10 years," he answered, and | she has sat In the same little corner for
 decade But why do you expect me
 to know who she isg Ny specially is socialism, #4 Mrs. Katherine costigan Dorsey, gen.
 ealogical indexer at the Congressional library, has for more than 10 years
 past escaped the vigilance of the ubi- quitous magazine and newspaper writer on the quest of story" She is one of the few picturesque figures in Wash ington whom the enterprising reporter has failed to, discover and to exploit. Yet parvenu and aristocrat alike have | managed to find their way to the little spiral stairway that leads to her alcove. and her crowded book balcony has be- come the Mecca of those who aspire | to ancestors and a stately lineage. For | it is this little woman in the genteel black gown and the grandmotherly
 black cape who knows more about her
 eta in fIta cesses of her memory more histories of famous families than any other gene
 aIoglcal expert in America. If you are
 anyDody at all, you find that she is on
 Intimate terms with your foretathers. 1 She can, not infrequently, call by name lnose of your great great great grandfath- | CTS children who were massacred by the Indians. Or. to go back further still, 1t l Is likely that she will enlighten you, without so much as looking in the
 book, as to just what crest your most
 remote English ancestor wore fastened
 upon his sleeve or helmet.
 For myself, l should never have dis
 covered Mrs. Dorsey if my Aunt Rose.
 who lives in South Carolina, hadn't thought 1t all foohshness to pay heraldic society in New York S25 so paint her coat of arms.
 Dear child" she wrote, 'how would
 
 right colors, anyhow? So please take
 your mind off the history of the ancient Romans long enough to look in some book
 there at the Congressional library and see what the colors of the Calhoun coat of arms really are. The art teacher here
 at home is going to paint 1t for me. You
 know she studied in New York; My Aunt Rose thought, and so did I,
 that the coat of arms of the Calhoun fam fly of South Carolina would be emblaz-
 oned as a frontispiece in every book that
 might treat of the blue blood Of Amer ica. I was sadder and wiser woman after delving for a whole afternoon among
 those difficult abbreviations, strange sym
 bols and mystic terms that make the language of heraldry a sealed book to the uninitiated. With my forehnger on
 the brief description of the coat of arms
 marked Calhoun, l determined to seek | revenge of one of the clerks at the desk. Light on Engrailed Saltire "ls there any man or woman on the staff of this library" I asked severely, who can tell me what an engrailed sal tire is? Or who can throw light on such
 phrases as harts head coupled gules att tired?' In other words, could I learn,
 without employing expert aid, in what colors my aunts coat of arms should be
 painted?"
 He looked mildly surprised.
 Why, that's heraldry.'' he answered cheerfully, and pointed to the little wom-
 an who sat in the balcony among her
 books. And that's Mrs. Dorsey. She knows more about peoples coats of arms
 than anybody in the world, and she's here to help you. Just ask her"
 Not that the Congressional library ern- ploys Mrs. Dorsey for the sole purpose of looking up ancestors for the public Evi- dently the public labors under this mis- apprehension, for the number of requests received at the Congressional library for full information concerning the family tree are so numerous that the secretary has had printed polite refusal slips. These state that no genealogical bureau is sup ported by the library. Mrs. Dorsey. how ever, has for 12 years past. In addition to her services as genealogical indexer.
 answered for the Congressional library all questions on heraldry and genealogy which the authorities consider legitimate questions. And her expertness and re-
 markable store of genealogical and her
 aldic knowledge have been instrumental in furnishing individuals and organiza- tions with d vast amount of information along these lines
 What Colonial Dame Wanted For instance, a member of the Colonial Danes of North Carolina writes to the Congressonal library asking for q full description of the coats of arms of all the | English governors of that state What | she wants with it, heaven only knows, but l the request considered legitimate by the secretary of the library, Is turned over to Mrs. Dorsey, who promptly supplies
 the dame with the desired Information | Again if some earnest seeker after her.
 aldic knowledge is doing his own research
 work, and finds himself lost in a maze I .l..... '