Series II. Creative projects and research files

This series includes Dorsey's proposal for a book on the Centennial Exhibition. Also included are several "concept" scrapbooks containing proposals for two theatrical musicals: "The Ballad of Josie and Jim", about the murder of robber baron Jim Fiske over actress Josie Mansfield, and "Centennial Quartette", a celebration of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Dorsey also submitted the latter for consideration as a motion picture or television production, as is reflected by correspondence included in the series. None of these projects were realized.

In addition, the series contains some of Dorsey's research files, consisting primarily of contemporaneous newspaper and magazine articles on the Bicentennial of 1976 and a few other topics (Antiques, Art Nouveau, the Metropolitan Opera House and Restaurants and Food). There are also a few folders of ephemera, primarily relating to architectural preservation and tourism in New York City in the 1960's and 1970's. Among the ephemera items are flyers for lectures on architectural preservation, brochures and maps for walking tours of New York City, brochures on churches and other historic buildings, and a 1905 Report of the Queens United Civic Association's Committee on City Plan and Parks. In the folder labeled "Assorted Ephemera" are tickets to the 1964 World's Fair, the 1974 Art Deco Exposition, and programs for two performances at Carnegie Hall (1898 and 1899) and a 1929 production of the Frieburg Passion Play at the New York Hippodrome.