Series I. Photographs, 1936-1940, inclusive

This subseries contains a variety of 8 x 10 inch photographs taken by New York World's Fair Corporation photographers and disseminated by the New York's World's Fair Publicity / Public Relations Office. Many include narrative material on the reverse side of the photograph.

This subseries consists of 8 x 10 inch photographs taken by news corporations or agencies.

This subseries consists of amateur photographs entered in a contest sponsored by General Electric.

This subseries consists of 8 x 10 inch photographs from the Bettmann Archive.

This subseries consists mostly of 8 x 10 inch photographs bearing ownership stamps from individual photographers, including some known professionals. The largest collection is from Underwood & Underwood, a prominent commercial photography company that was employed by the World's Fair Corporation Publicity Department. The Underwood & Underwood file also contains a packaged collection titled, "Official Photographs New York World's Fair 1939." Other significant items in this subseries include nearly 200 color photographs taken by Conrad H. Ruppert using Kodak's new Kodachrome transparency film. There are also a number of aerial photographs taken by Rudy Arnold and McLaughlin Air Service that show the fair grounds prior to and during construction.

This subseries is the largest part of the Gillespie collection and consists of a large assortment of photographs by unknown photographers, covering a variety of subjects, styles and formats. The photographs capture almost every aspect of the fair, including pictures of the fair under construction and images inside exhibits and shows. Many photographs have a distinctly amateur quality in their choice of subject and composition, but a significant number demonstrate an advanced level of skill.

Photographs in this subseries are arranged by size and format. If sleeved, they are done so back-to-back if no useful information is written on the reverse. Large photographs are mostly 8 x 10 inches or similar in size. Medium photographs are mainly in the range of 4 x 6 inches to 5 x 7 inches; Box 5, folders 6 through 8 were originally bound together as a single album, but were rehoused for conservation purposes. Included in the medium category are three folders that originally came from a single bound collection of vinyl sleeves. Small photographs are mostly smaller than 4 x 6 inches. This category also includes two sets of small souvenir photo cards that are still in their original packaging. Color positives are twenty-six, 4 x 5 Kodachrome direct positive transparencies.

This subseries contains a variety of photographs that Paul Gillespie obtained from the collections of other institutions.

This subseries contains a small number of photographs that are from the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, the Golden Gate International Exposition or other world fairs. The photographs are a mixture of color or black & white, small and medium size prints.

This subseries contains several varieties of stereograph. One set is still housed in its original wooden box, along with an insert that reads, "Stereo Pictures of The New York World Fair" and "Rogers and Rogers" of Newark, NJ. Although this set appears to be commercially produced, the captions and numbering are handwritten. There are an additional 72 loose stereographs and a single "Stereovue" card that depicts 3 images.