The Clinton Birthplace, at 117 S. Hervey St. in Hope, Arkansas, is a 2½ story American four-square home. It was built in 1917 by Dr. H.S. Garrett and patterned from a design in France. The home has 2100 square feet.
The Cassidy’s, President Clinton’s biological grandparents, lived here for 18 years (1938 to 1956). Bill lived here from birth until 1950 when his mother married Roger Clinton and they moved to 321 E. 13th St., Hope, Arkansas. (see waymark WM59VV)
Restoration of the birthplace began in 1995 and opened June 1, 1997
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William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was born at the Julia Chester Hospital on the 19th of August 1946 in the small town of Hope, Arkansas as William Jefferson Blythe III, named for his late father who had died in an auto accident in May. He lived in this comfortable frame house in Hope with his widowed mother and her parents for four years after his birth in 1946. Clinton remembered playing in the yard with friends and learning from his adored grandfather about social justice and the equality of all people. Clinton, the first Baby Boomer elected to the White House, maintained a centrist political stance. The American people enjoyed a great economic boom during his administration, and President Clinton worked effectively for peace in Northern Ireland, Haiti, the Middle East, and the former Yugoslavia. He also faced impeachment but was acquitted of the charges brought against him.
The Clinton Birthplace Foundation, Inc. preserved the two and one-half story frame house as Bill Clinton’s 1st Home Museum. The home has deep projecting eaves and a broad one-story hipped roof porch on the front. Its style is American foursquare, so called because of its square floor plan. There are many foursquare houses in towns and cities across the country, most built during the early years of the 20th century. The Clinton house dates from 1917. The Cassidy family moved into the home in 1938, when Virginia was in high school, and purchased the house in 1946. The restored interior still has much of its original detail, including the staircase in the living room, with its turned balusters and massive, paneled newel post. A small pantry features built-in cupboards. Virtually all of the second floor finishes are original, including the flooring and the beaded board in the hallway and nursery.
Virginia received her R.N. certification in nursing in Shreveport, Louisiana where she met and married William Jefferson “Bill” Blythe II in 1943. He was a traveling salesman from Sherman, Texas. He served in Italy during WWII. Virginia returned to Hope, living with her parents and awaiting her husband’s return. In 1945, Bill Blythe and Virginia lived briefly with her parents before moving to Chicago for his work. Virginia was already expecting; she and Bill wanted to return to Hope for the birth of their child. He insisted she fly back and he would drive to meet her. Tragically, he died in an auto accident en route to Hope.
Young Billy lived with his widowed mother in the comfortable frame home with his grandparents, Eldridge and Edith Grisham Cassidy. He remembers playing in the yard with friends and cousins. In 1948, Virginia, a registered nurse, went to New Orleans for her certification as a nurse-anesthetist. She left her two-year-old son in the care of her parents. They visited back and forth during the months Virginia was away. Bill’s maternal grandparents and extended family played an important role in his childhood. His grandmother taught him his numbers using playing cards pinned to the kitchen curtains. He lived with his grandparents for four years and maintained a close relationship with them, visiting frequently until his grandfather’s death in 1956.
Virginia finished her schooling and returned to Hope in 1950. Soon she met and married Roger Clinton from Hot Springs, Arkansas. They moved a short distance away to a house of their own at 321 E. 13th Street. Bill enjoyed his Lionel trains and was keen on Hopalong Cassidy. He attended first grade at Brookwood Elementary.
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