Hemingway's Life: Periods

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

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.
1899-1909

Hemingway's childhood: people, places, and experiences, and the works they inspired.

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A teenaged Ernest Hemingway lying on his stomach in a field, writing. Michigan, c. 1914.
1910-1919

Hemingway's adolescence: people, places, and experiences (excluding World War I), and the works they inspired.

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

Hemingway's first war: people, places, and experiences, and the works they inspired.

A studio portrait of a moustached Ernest Hemingway in the 1920s. He is wearing a billed cap to hide a scar on his forehead, a dark sweater, and a white collared shirt. He is shown looking to his left, and smiling.
1920-1929

Hemingway's experiences, inspirations, and writing.

Hemingway, seated on the sea wall at Cojimar, Cuba, looking into the distance. Early 1930s
1930-1939

Hemingway's experiences, inspirations, and writing.

A smiling Ernest Hemingway holds the bill of a marlin on board the PIlar, 1948
1940-1949

Hemingway's experiences, inspirations, and writing.

A barefoot Ernest Hemingway on the flying bridge of the Pilar. Havana Harbor, 1950s.
1950-1959

Hemingway's experiences, inspirations, and writing.

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The Nobel Prize

Hemingway was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his mastery of the art of narrative [...] and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style."

Ernest Hemingway kicks a can down the road in Ketchum, Idaho, c. 1960. Snow-covered mountains with low clouds in the distance.
1960-1961

Hemingway's last years.

Selected Archival Holdings

The Ernest Hemingway Collection

Audiovisual Collection

Media Galleries

Research Guide (includes links to supporting collections)

Textual Collection

Selected External Resources

Hemingway: An Annotated Chronology, Michael S. Reynolds

The Hemingway Log: A Chronology of his Life and Times, Brewster Chamberlain