Subseries I.1 Portraits dates from approximately 1963 to 1991. Portraits of artists, athletes, authors, musicians, politicians, and other well-known figures make up the bulk of this group. These images include both formal portraits and candid shots. Slides are arranged alphabetically by name with cross-references when more than one person appears in a single image.

Subseries I.2 Subjects includes images of locations and events outside New York City, as well as general subjects such as "Military", "Science & Medicine" and "Technology & Industry". "Pop Culture" includes photographs of television screens, showing coverage of newsworthy events such as the 1981 space shuttle landing, a Carter/Reagan debate, and Jimmy Swaggart's 1988 televised repentance. Images of New York State include photographs of crowds on Jones Beach, farmhouses in the Hamptons, a dance club in Plattekill, New York, and the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Also included are several images of the Eisenhower Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway in Massena, New York.

Subseries I.3 Subjects-New York City contains photographs of buildings, streets and events in Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs. Images date from approximately 1968 to 1987, with many slides undated. The subseries is arranged alphabetically by specific subjects such as "Bridges", "Buildings", "Restaurants & Food" and "Winter Scenes". "Buildings-Hotels" includes several interior images of the New York Palace Hotel. "Education" includes images of public schools, newly desegregated classrooms and classes at New York University, Columbia University and LaGuardia Community College. Images of the 1978 New York Marathon are included in "Competitions-Sports", along with a Jets football game and people gambling at an Off Track Betting branch. Photographs of the proceedings of the Knapp Commission, investigating corruption in the New York City police force, are located with "Events-Miscellaneous". Labor demonstrations include a 1969 teachers strike. Along with Christmas, holiday images include a series taken on Easter, showing women in elaborate hats on Fifth Avenue. "Neighborhoods" includes the East Village, the Lower East Side, Chelsea, Times Square and Washington Heights. Also included are a large number of images from East Harlem in 1976, showing graffiti, empty lots and burned-out buildings. "Occupations" contains several images of dog walkers, police officers and street vendors. "Poverty" is comprised of images of the homeless. "Transportation" includes buses, horse-drawn carriages and images of traffic. Also included are images of transportation stations such as Grand Central Station and John F. Kennedy International Airport. Images of graffiti can be found in "Miscellaneous & Unidentified."

Subseries II.1 Portraits – Unmounted contains photographs ranging in size from 8 x 10 inches to 11 x 14 inches. Portraits feature actors, artists, athletes, musicians, politicians and writers and include both formal and candid shots. The photographs are arranged alphabetically by name with cross-references when more than one person appears in a single image. A separate folder contains images of musical groups, including The Beatles during an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Subseries II.2 Portraits – Unmounted – By Other Photographers includes eight portraits taken by Bernard Gotfryd's first cousin, Alex Gotfryd. Also included are two portraits of Bernard Gotfryd, one by his son, Howard Gotfryd, and the other by Richard Reinhold.

Subseries II.3 Portraits – Mounted contains portraits that are either matted or mounted to board. As with the unmounted portraits, images include both formal and candid portraits of actors, artists, dancers, politicians and writers.

Subseries II.4 Subjects – Unmounted consists of photographs of places and events, mainly in New York City. Images are arranged alphabetically by topic. Images of art include several photographs of kinetic and light art, taken at the Howard Wise Gallery in 1967. "Buildings - Printing & Publishing" is comprised of photographs taken during the final day of work at the New York Daily Mirror. This series includes images of the presses, the building and many of the workers. Celebrations include two images of a ticker tape parade for astronauts John Young and Virgil Grissom. Also included is a color photograph of fireworks during the Brooklyn Bridge Centennial celebration. "Children" contains several images of children playing on the streets of New York. One image shows a group of small boys with a shoeshine box. Another shows three boys playing cards outside Pennsylvania Station. "Demonstrations & Parades" contains a single image of Legal Aid employees on strike. "Immigration" is a group of images taken at the Calexico-Mexicali border station. The images are undated, but appear to be from the 1960s. Photographs of newspaper vendors, stockbrokers, street artists and vendors are included in "Occupations." A separate folder contains photographs of police officers. New York City street scenes show daily life in the city, including several images of the city at night. Photographs include a father and daughter eating hot dogs from a vendor. Another image shows a crowded Times Square sidewalk, complete with an advertisement for Metropole Café's "Topless Go Go." John F. Kennedy International Airport's Terminal 5 is represented in "Transportation," along with horse-drawn carriages and a solitary woman riding a bus. Subway images include panhandlers, graffiti and stations, as well as a nun sitting in an unidentified station, reading in front of a Levy's bread advertisement. Photographs of the construction of several unidentified housing projects are located in "Miscellaneous & Unidentified."

Subseries II.5 Subjects – Mounted is comprised of photographs mounted on board. Two of these images were taken at Robert F. Kennedy's funeral in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral and burial in Arlington National Cemetery.

In some cases photographic prints have attached typewritten notes from the photographer and/or clippings from the magazines where the photos were published. Often the notes are of a personal nature indicating circumstances of the photo shoot or feelings about the subject.

Subseries IV.1 Correspondence contains letters, e-mails, postcards and telegrams from 1961-2009. Several letters of thanks came from Gotfryd's subjects, including ones from Ralph Ginzburg, Elia Kazan, David Lilienthal, Meyer Schapiro and Harvey Swados.

Subseries IV.2 Ephemera includes auction catalogs, magazine and newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements, invitations and tickets. A large number of press passes are for events; they include the 1976 Olympics, 1968 Nixon Presidential Campaign, 1965 and 1978 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and Pope John Paul I's 1976 visit to New York. The subseries contains eleven postcards, printed by Fotofolio, featuring Gotfryd's photographs. There is also a student's master's thesis, in Polish, about Gotfryd's photographic work. Oversize material, such as full newspaper sheets and exhibition posters, is housed in flat files and listed separately.

Series V. Holocaust Survivor Material, dating between 1990 and 2011, contains materials relating to Bernard Gotfryd's speaking engagements and writings about the Holocaust.

Subseries V.1 contains three books written by Gotfryd

Subseries V.2 contains Correspondence. Much of this is thank you notes and artwork from middleschool and highschool students.

Subseris V.3 includes miscellaneous items such as writing drafts, a book awards list, a copy of a book review, and a copy of some biographical information about Gotfryd.

Subseries V.4 includes magazines which contain articles written by Gotfryd.

Subseries V.5 contains two scrapbooks created by students at McAuley Highschool in response to Gotfryds talk on the Holocaust.