This collection contains correspondence, drafts of papers, the manuscript of an unpublished book, and photographs. Osterhout's interest in the electrophysiology of plants is documented, as well as his professional career at the University of California, Berkeley; Harvard University; and the Rockefeller Institute.

The bacteriologist and virologist Thomas Milton Rivers spent over thirty years at the Rockefeller Institute as a researcher in the Department of Bacteriology and from 1937-1955, as Director. Working on measles and pneumonia, Rivers discovered the parainfluenzae bacillus and cultivated vaccine virus for human use, and during the 1950s, he played an important role in coordinating research on poliomyelitis as head of the National Institute for Infantile Paralysis. During the Second World War, Rivers led the Naval Medical Research Unit in the South Pacific, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. The Rivers Papers contains correspondence, laboratory notes, speeches, and photographs documenting Rivers' activities at the Rockefeller Institute, the development of polio vaccine, and Rivers' Navy experience in the Pacific during World War II.

This collection consists chiefly of papers and correspondence relating to his work in developing vaccines for various viruses and bacteria, such as encephalitides, typhus, rickettsioses, poliomyelitis, meningococcus, and trachoma. Also includes materials on intraperitoneal protection tests, records of experiments on production of intranuclear inclusions by means of chemicals, results of work by Dr. Herald Rea Cox on viruses, medical research during World War II, and materials relating to the Rockefeller Institute. There are also corrected proofs of "Viral Encephalitides" (Springfield, Ill., 1958).

For his pioneering research on the link between viruses and cancer, the pathologist Francis Peyton Rous was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1966. Working primarily at the Rockefeller Institute after 1909, Rous first came to notice for his theoretical construction of the first blood bank for use in France during World War I, a plan ultimately implemented by his assistant, Oswald H. Robertson. Subsequently, he left an important imprint on the development of experimental medicine, partly through his own research on the origins of cancer and his administrative activities at the Rockefeller, but also as editor of the Journal of Experimental Medicine from 1921-1970. The Rous Papers include correspondence, lectures, articles, reports, laboratory records, reprints, and photographs that document all aspects of the life and work of Peyton Rous. Reflecting his work at the Institute are letters of colleagues, information on assistants, and reports to the directors (1909-1959). Additional material relates to Rous' diverse organizational interests, including the American Cancer Society, Century Association, Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research (at Yale University), Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Johns Hopkins University, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, New York Academy of Medicine, Royal Society of Medicine Foundation, and Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research.

A pathologist and cancer specialist, James B. Murphy (1884-1950) spent most of career associated with the Rockefeller Institute (1911-1950) investigating the role of lymphocytes in tuberculosis, x-ray mutagenesis, and the nature of malignant tumors in fowls. The Murphy Papers contains professional correspondence and research notes relating to James B. Murphy's cancer research at the Rockefeller, and information on several of the organizations to which he contributed or belonged, including the American Association for Cancer Research; American Bureau for Medical Aid to China; American Cancer Society; Bar Harbor Medical and Surgical Hospital; Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory; Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer (New York City, ca. 1932-1950); National Advisory Cancer Council; and the New York Academy of Medicine (1923-1950). Murphy helped to develop mobile laboratories for hospitals in France during World War I.