On April 11, the newest exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum opened its doors to the public, titled “Ernest Hemingway: Between Two Wars.”
As a dynamic character in American literature, Hemingway changed the script regarding expectations facing writers of the time, moving from lengthy prose to short sentences. He proved that writers do not need to hole up in their apartments to create works of art, but rather, need to go out and experience the world as intended.
The exhibit showcases different parts of his life, including paintings he collected, photos taken, dog tags from wars, and the process of publishing a piece from beginning to end. Letters he sent regarding book cover designs and beginning versions of now-famous books are among the artifacts.
Different parts of the exhibit chronologically map out the turbulent times in Hemingway’s life. Beginning with his position as an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I and ending with his time as a reporter for “Collier’s” in World War II covering the battle of Hürtgen in Germany, “Between Two Wars” presents different bits of information recovered from Hemingway’s Cuban summer home.
Transitions from different parts of the exhibit correspond to the different times of Hemingway’s life: “A Farewell to Arms,” “Paris,” “The Sun Also Rises,” “Death in the Afternoon,” “Green Hills of Africa,” “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Spanish Civil War,” “World War II,” and “Battle of Hürtgenwald” all follow his linear life story.
No mention of “The Old Man and the Sea” or his suicide were found at the exhibit due to the nature of it: everything exhibited was salvaged from Cuba.
This display and these artifacts came to be in due part to his fourth wife and widow—Mary Welsh Hemingway—and her role as literary executor for her husband’s work. After Hemingway’s suicide in 1961, she sought out President John F. Kennedy to ask for permission to travel to Cuba, since there was a ban for any U.S. citizens to travel to the island. President Kennedy was a fan of Hemingway’s work, even quoting the author in his own Pulitzer-Prize-winning book, titled “Profiles in Courage.”
Hemingway spent a fair amount of time at his summer home in Havana, thus much of his work stayed there when he left during Fidel Castro’s revolution. President Kennedy’s admiration for the writer allowed for him to make arrangements for Welsh Hemingway to enter Cuba to claim family documents and belongings. Welsh Hemingway decided to keep the artifacts at the JFK Library due to the president’s assistance in retrieving her late husband’s work.
From Hemingway’s time living in Paris as a foreign correspondent for the “Toronto Star” to showcasing photos and notes from friends like Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Pablo Picasso, and James Joyce, this exhibit does not disappoint. For all the American lit fans out there, this exhibit is a must-see.