The Value of Historical (and Permanent) Vertical Files

This post was updated on 28 January 2026. - Grace Cordial

Historical vertical files can sometimes prove to be among the most useful collections of materials in a library or archives. They become especially valuable when viewed in a special local history collection and archives context. Sometimes an historical vertical file is the only place where one can find a ticket stub to a significant performance of a local play, a photograph of a church event, a railroad schedule, deed to a property, or a clue about just how influential an event or person may have been when it came to politics back in the day. We actually have had customers cry out with delight at uncovering a clue that proved key to their research in the process of going through a BDC vertical file!

Merriam Webster defines the term "vertical file" as: "a collection of articles (as pamphlets and clippings) that is maintained (as in a library) to answer brief questions or to provide points of information not easily located." The official Society of American Archivists definition provided in "A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology" gives two quite different meanings. The term can apply to the furniture housing the files as well as to what we in the archival world refer to as “an artificial collection of materials, often of an ephemeral nature, collected and arranged for ready reference," which tend to be generally housed in letter or legal sized folders. 

Vertical file contents vary so widely in original source, format, and time acquired that it would be impossible to keep an internal inventory of every clipping, item, and booklet contained there in up to date - or to replace the materials in full in case of a hurricane or fire. 

When I came aboard in 1999, we had four 36" long drawers full of files. Now we have twenty-five 36" long drawers full of files. Some vertical files had a lot of content when I came aboard in 1999. Some I compiled from scratch. Most have been added to in the passage of years. We completed a long-term project of integrating content from vertical files formerly maintained and held by Beaufort Branch and Hilton Head Branch libraries in early 2025. Some content was assembled in the course of guiding research for customers interested (most often) in other topics. As long as the information “fits” the collection development policy and we can properly house the material, we can find a way to organize it so researchers can find it. 

Historical vertical files are never static. We create new artificial collections or add to our holdings from time to time as collection development policy and circumstances merit. We also sometimes merge files. Several recent examples:  

• We've recently created a BEAUFORT-CITY-GOVERNMENT-CITY MANAGER'S BRIDGE REPORT, 2025- because the City began issuing one as a means of improving communications about ongoing stormwater and road work in the city limits.  We helped a customer; the customer helped us provide even more information for future customers to review.
• Unfortunately, we had to create a MASS SHOOTINGS -- 2025 vertical file for clippings about the shooting that occurred on 12 October 2025, shortly before 1:00 AM, at Willie's Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island. Initial casualty counts listed 4 dead and at least 20 wounded.
• We'll soon be subdividing contents of some of our "fatter" vertical files. Examples: 
• CHURCHES - ST. PETER'S CATHOLIC CHURCH
• PAT CONROY LITERARY CENTER
• COASTAL CONSERVATION LEAGUE

None of the BDC vertical files are intended to be the final word on any subject. They are meant to be pointer files to give a researcher context and clues so that the researcher can go deeper into the topic using other resources if s/he wants to go deeper into the topic.

None of the vertical files consist of the same content. I will use the Family Surname files as an example. We currently have over 150 different Family Surname vertical files here in the Research Room cabinets. Some of the vertical files only have genealogical information included in the file along the lines of who begat whom. Some of the family vertical files contain reports about crimes perpetrated or endured by specific family members. Some family vertical files have information about the family business. Some of the family vertical files include content that touches on scandal. Some of the family vertical files include content only about how wonderful or talented or rich or significant the family was in the past. Some of the family vertical files have a combination of all the above. 
 

For example, I was asked about the contents of the Cram Family vertical file several months ago. In this instance, the file has newspaper and magazine clippings with dates ranging from 1936 to 1982: “Mrs. Ruth Cram’s Broad River Place sold to L. M. Cook” (Beaufort Gazette, 1958); “Four More Indicted in Cram Burglary Case,”(Island Packet, 1976) and “More arrested in Cram Robbery”(Beaufort Gazette, 1976); an excerpt from “Slouching towards Bluffton,” by Emma Edmunds from the Atlanta Weekly (1982); and “Mr. Harry Cram and Miss Ruth Vaux Married” (Beaufort Gazette, 1936.)  

The titles of the historical vertical files housed in the BDC are listed in the SCLENDS catalog. 

Please contact us (bdc@bcgov.net or 843-255-6468) if you'd like to know more about a vertical file and its contents.