George Washington Masonic Memorial, first day of issue envelope, 1932-05-12

The manuscripts vertical file is an open artificial collection containing a wide variety of unique manuscript items relating to Alexandria, Virginia residents, businesses, organizations, and history.

The majority of the items are manuscript pages but the collection also includes books and ephemera. It is strong in local business advertisements, stationary, and records as well as correspondence, legal and financial papers, memorabilia, and school-related documents. The majority of the documents date from the 19th century, although 18th and 20th century documents are also present.

Some notable documents include: a book of auction records from 1837-1840 including sales of houses, ships, and slaves; an apothecary formula book, several examples of late-18th century legal papers, Civil War passes into Washington for the Leadbeater family, an Alexandria High School student exercise book from 1859-1863, apprenticeship indentures, an 1841 retrocession petition, and records of fires in the city from the 1930s and 1950s.