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The Hemingway family by their Kenilworth Avenue home, Oak Park, IL. Shortly before Ernest's departure for WWI.

Hemingway's Family of Origin

Dr. Hilary Justice (JFK Library). Updated 11/2023.

Formal studio 3/4 portrait of Dr. Clarence (Ed) Hemingway.

Clarence (Ed) Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway's father, Dr. Clarence (Ed) Edmonds Hemingway (1871-1928).

Grace Hall Hemingway in a white dress poses, standing, in a clearing near Walloon Lake, Michigan, c. 1900

Grace Hall Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway's mother, opera and bel canto singer Grace Ernestine Hall Hemingway (1872-1951).

The Hemingway siblings lined up in order of age in front of the family's cottage, Windemere, on Walloon Lake, Michigan, 1916. Their mother, Grace Hall Hemingway, helps steady the baby, Leicester, standing in front of his older siblings.

Hemingway's Siblings

Ernest Hemingway was the second of six children born to Dr. Clarence (Ed) and Grace Hall Hemingway: Marcelline, Ernest, Ursula, Madelaine, Carol, and Leicester.

Relationship to Hemingway

Character Inspiration Family

Related Place(s)

The Hemingway family lived in Oak Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb just west of the city. From Ernest's earliest years, they spent summers at their cabin on Walloon Lake in Northern Michigan, where he later set several short stories. Although his Oak Park upbringing remained a strong influence on his adult decisions, he never set a story there--at least not by name.

A period photo of Hemingway's birthplace, a three-story Victorian home in Oak Park, Illinois.

Oak Park, Illinois

Northern Michigan

Related Period(s)

The early years, when Ernest Hemingway lived with (or returned home to) his parents and siblings.

Hemingway, age 4, stands on the prow of a boat that sits in a field. He is wearing a hat and a fringed Western costume, and he holds a toy rifle.

A teenaged Ernest Hemingway lying on his stomach in a field, writing. Michigan, c. 1914.

1910-1919

The 19-year-old Ernest Hemingway smiles from his hospital bed, Red Cross Hospital, Milan, 1918. A small U.S. flag hangs on the wall behind him.

World War I

Selected Archival Holdings

The Ernest Hemingway Collection

Audiovisual Collection

Media Gallery: Early Years 1899-1921

Research Guide (includes links to supporting collections)

Textual Collection

Grace Hall Hemingway's "Ernest Miller Hemingway" scrapbooks:

Volume I: 1899-1901
Volume II: 1901-1904
Volume III: 1904-1909
Volume IV: 1909-1914
Volume V: 1914-1917

Selected External Resources

The Early Years - Ernest and Marcelline Hemingway in Oak Park, Illinois Digital Archive

Hemingway Birthplace Museum, Oak Park, IL

Ernest Hemingway Collection, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin, TX

Hemingway Collections (includes "Marcelline Hemingway" scrapbook), Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park, IL

"Ursula Xavier Hemingway" scrapbooks, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Memoirs & family histories by Hemingway's family:

At the Hemingways, Marcelline Hemingway Sanford

Ernie: Hemingway's Sister "Sunny" Remembers, Madelaine Hemingway Miller

Heritage, Grace Hall Hemingway (family history; ends with her marriage to Clarence)

My Brother, Ernest Hemingway, Leicester Hemingway

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