This collection contains correspondence, drafts of papers, the manuscript of an unpublished book, and photographs.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.

Papers consist of letters, reports, addresses and lectures, relating to biological chemistry and other scientific topics, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, refugee scientists, professional associations, etc.

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.