The Kenneth C. Smithburn papers document the career of research scientist Kenneth C. Smithburn in the identification and isolation of viruses, particularly the Yellow Fever virus in Africa. The papers also document more broadly the Foundation's interest in public health through the International Health Division and its successor, the Division of Medicine and Public Health. The papers span the years 1922 to 1974, with the bulk falling between the years 1938 through 1959.

The Boards represented in this series are the most important philanthropies that have been developed from the Rockefeller fortune: the Bureau of Social Hygiene; the China Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation and its successor, the China Medical Board, Inc.; the Davison Fund; the General Education Board; the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial; the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; the Rockefeller Foundation; the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now known as Rockefeller University); the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission; the Sealantic Fund; and the Spelman Fund of New York.

Contains the correspondence and reports of the International Health Board/International Health Division (IHB/D) of the Rockefeller Foundation, including the Rockefeller Institute Virus Laboratories.