Nusbaum's papers span from 1928 to 1978. The first item consists of Nusbaum's plant histology notes at Oregon State College. Later items include article reprints from Phytopathology and other publications, a presentation delivered at a 1965 legislative hearing on the nematode assay program, and a Sigma Xi lecture. Also included is a booklet of selected Nusbaum essays published in 1992, five years after his death. This booklet includes The Nematology Research Program at North Carolina State University (1971), The Strategy of Plant Disease Control (1968), Introduction to Epidemiology (1972), Military Parallels in Plant Disease Control (1972), Monitoring Pathogen Populations (1974), The Role of Agricultural Chemicals in Controlling Pests (1970), and The Strategies and Tactics of Nematode Control (1972).

Faculty papers span from 1945 to 1969. These papers were written by other members of the plant pathology department at North Carolina State, as well as members of other departments. The authors of these papers include D. E. Ellis, E. E. Clayton, E. L. Moore, P. N. Drolsom, Furney A. Todd, and R. L. Rabb.

Other papers span from 1948 to 1975. Many of the papers consist of publications from the Department of Plant Ecology and Forest Soils of the Royal College of Forestry located in Sweden. Many of the articles are written by Torsten Ingestad.

This subseries spans from 1945 to 1964. It consists of essays, reports, and press releases written by Nusbaum and his colleagues that were used in news stories. These stories aided farmers in deciding what type of crops to grow and avoiding crop diseases. In addition to Nusbaum, other contributors to these reports include Furney A. Todd, T. E. Smith, and Howard R. Garriss.

This subseries spans from 1944 to 1960. It consists of reports and correspondence concerning the internal cork disease of sweet potato, a disease Nusbaum discovered during his time at the Edisto Experiment Station in South Carolina. Individuals named in the letters include Howard P. Barss, Principal Experiment Station Administrator at the United States Department of Agriculture; J. A. Martin, Jr., horticulturalist at Clemson Agricultural College; Otis Woodard, horticulturalist at the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station; and Julian H. Miller, professor at the University of Georgia. Nusbaum's A Preliminary Report on Internal Cork, A Probable Virus Disease of Sweetpotato and Internal Cork of Sweet Potato memorandums are also included.

This subseries consists of materials relating to black shank, Granville wilt, Wirewood stem rot, and nematode diseases. Included are correspondence and reports relating to the diseases, including a 1950 memo from Howard R. Garriss warning North Carolinians not to import Burley tobacco plants from Tennessee or Kentucky. Other items include a nematode chart, which gives the scientific name, common name, and principal hosts of various nematode types.

Materials relating to classes taught by or consulted on by Nusbaum, 1947-1982. Items in this subseries include materials used for class, student reports, syllabi, and correspondence.

Materials relating to North Carolina State's Plant Pathology Department, including information about the 1954 Nematology Workshop, staff meeting notes, the Department's Method of Nematode Extraction, a program from the 1987 Nusbaum Symposium, and information about soil fumigation radio broadcasts.

Contains correspondence from North Carolina State faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as well as faculty from other universities. Letters span from 1948 to 1979. Letter contents include a range of topics, including discussion about Reynolds Award nominees and departmental budget cuts. Also included is a 1973 statement written by Nusbaum entitled The Research Program on the Control of Root Diseases of Tobacco. This statement convinced faculty members that they needed a young professor to fill the position being vacated by the 67-year-old Nusbaum.

Contains letters relating to awards and recognitions received by Nusbaum. Consists of a letter to Dr. D. B. Anderson from D. E. Ellis recommending Nusbaum for a Reynolds Professorship (1956), a letter to Vice-Chancellor Rudolph Pate from Robert Aycock recommending Nusbaum for the Watauga Medal (1980), and a brochure from the Twenty-Second Annual Meeting of the Society of Nematologists, where Nusbaum was made an honorary member (1983).

Contains negatives of photographs taken of Nusbaum, his family and friends, and his research. The negatives are arranged in numerical order based on the numbering system imposed by Nusbaum. Nusbaum's descriptive index cards are included in this box as well. These 46 cards break the negatives into subject groups, which are arranged alphabetically. The subject headings on listed on the cards are as follows:

1) Blackville; 2) Clemson; 3) Cooper, H.P.; 4) Creech; 5) Cucumber; 6) Edisto Station; 7) Edisto Station (A); 8) Fairfax; 9) Fishers; 10) Fleniken; 11) Folk; 12) Harris; 13) Holmes H. N.; 14) Honey Dew Melons; 15) [Hinnint?]; 16) Keitts; 17) Lightsey; 18) Long Island; 19) Lott.; 20) Lunn; 21)Madison Wis.; 22) McGinty, R. A.; 23) Merchant; 24) Mielke, J. L.; 25) Misc.; 26) Nusbaum, C. J.; 27) Nusbaum Family; 28) Nusbaum, V & J.; 29) Nusbaum, V. L.; 30) Nusbaum, V. L. (A); 31) Persian Melon; 32) Pinckard, J. A.; 33) Poole; 34) Rogers; 35) Ryker, T. C.; 36) Sweet Potato; 37) Sweet Potato (A); 38) Troutman, J. F. Mrs.; 39) Watermelon; 40) Watts; 41) Welland Canal, Canada; 42) Williston; 43) Williston (A); 44) Wolf, F. A.; 45) Young, E. L. Mr. & Mrs.; and 46) Young, Marion.

An Excel spreadsheet is also located in this box, enabling the researcher to obtain information about each negative without having to look through the cards. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are not included in the collection.

Several of the negatives pertaining to Nusbaum's research are made of glass, and a few are coated with an orange powder that will rub off. Researchers should handle these items with extra care.

Contains photographs and slides taken of Nusbaum, his family and friends, his research, and several travel destinations.

The photographs consist mainly of positive copies of Nusbaum's negatives, although there are more negatives than positives. There are also eight photographs not included in the negative collection. These items consist of a photograph of the Plant Pathology Department from 1958, as well as seven photographs of M. incognita.

All of the photographs are black and white. They are arranged in numerical order based on the numbering system imposed by Nusbaum.

The slides include scenes from Rome, the Vatican, Amsterdam, Greece, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina. The slides are arranged in the order they were placed in the carousel.