The Whitman College and Northwest Archives has maintained a vertical file since at least the 1960s. From the beginning, the purpose of the vertical file was to arrange and store small files on a topic, often including memorabilia and ephemeral material, pertaining to Walla Walla. For the most part, the vertical file contains only printed items. Manuscript material and other unique items were, generally, not placed in the vertical file. Some of the materials in the vertical file include: newspaper clippings, press releases, programs, speeches, reprints, and obituaries. Since the early 2000s, material has not been regularly added to the collection, but staff do occassionaly add small additions.