. . . best of all he loved the fall. . .
Ernest Hemingway held an abiding affection for central Idaho from his first visit to Sun Valley in 1939 until his death in his final home along the Big Wood River in 1961. The Community Library has a robust collection of artifacts and materials from Hemingway’s time in Idaho, and the Library is the custodian of his final home.
Explore Hemingway in Idaho
Hemingway House Online Collection
The database for the Ernest and Mary Hemingway House and Preserve Collection is now available to the public. You can search or browse to see artifacts that belong to the house. To look through the online collection click here.
Virtual Tour of Idaho Home
Visit Hemingway’s final home, which is private, through this virtual tour created with Idaho Public Television.
Wood River Museum Exhibit
See “A Writer in New Country: Hemingway in 1939” in the Wood River Museum at 4th and Walnut in Ketchum.
Digital Collections
Peruse historic photos from the House and from the archive that have been digitized.
Idaho Public TV Program
Watch the Idaho Public Television “Idaho’s Hemingway” episode of Idaho Experience.
Conversations on Hemingway
In 2021, PBS launched a Ken Burns/Lynn Novick documentary on the visionary work and turbulent life of Ernest Hemingway. The Community Library participated in several related events that are still available for viewing.
Hemingway House Sessions
Listen to musicians perform in the living room of Ernest and Mary Hemingway’s home.
Hemingway’s Widow: The Life and Legacy of Mary Welsh Hemingway
Timothy Christian, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, discusses his new book Hemingway’s Widow: The Life and Legacy of Mary Welsh Hemingway with Jenny Emery Davidson, executive director of The Community Library in Ketchum, Idaho.
A Guide to Ernest Hemingway in Idaho
Download a map to Hemingway sites, discover virtual experiences, and get a list of recommended reading.
Collections and Preservation
The Library holds a growing collection of Hemingway photographs, books, correspondence, ephemera, and more, and special collections from the David Meeker Collection, the Gray Family Collection, the Michael Reynolds Papers, and the house that was Hemingway’s final home.
Many of these items are held in the Regional History Archive and are exhibited on a rotating basis at the Library and the Museum. Items also are available for research requests.
Best of all he loved the fall. . . . with the tawny and grey, the leaves yellow on the cottonwoods, leaves floating on the trout streams and above the hills the high blue windless skies.
– Ernest Hemingway’s eulogy for Idaho friend Gene Van Guilder
October 1939, Sun Valley
Programs
Each September, the Library presents the annual Hemingway Seminar, a multi-day program to delve into Hemingway’s Life and work.
The Library presents the annual Hemingway Distinguished Lecture each July, featuring the finest contemporary writers.
In 2019, the Library launched a Writer-in-Residence Program at the private Hemingway House to support ongoing creative work.
