Last updated: January 12, 2021
Place
Clinton Birthplace Home
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Hope, Arkansas
Significance:
Birthplace home of President William Jefferson Clinton
Designation:
National Register of Historic Places
Amenities
3 listed
Accessible Rooms, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Wheelchair Accessible
Located at 117 South Hervey Street, this two-story home in American Foursquare design is the first residence of William Jefferson (Blythe) Clinton. Built in 1917 for Dr. H.J.S. Garrett, the home resembles the design of a house in France lived in by Garrett before returning and settling in Hope.
The Cassidy family purchased the structure in 1940 while their daughter, Virginia, was in high school. In 1943, Virginia Cassidy met William Blythe, a traveling salesman, at Tri-State Hospital in Shreveport; Cassidy had moved to Louisiana after her high school graduation for nurses training. The pair were married after a brief courtship and immediately before Blythe was shipped out to Italy for military duty during World War II.
By May 1946, Virginia Blythe was pregnant with her first child and living in the home in Hope when her husband was killed after his car veered off a wet road outside Sikeston, Missouri. Virginia gave birth to her son, William Jefferson Blythe III, on August 19. Bill, as he was known, was raised in this home by his widowed mother and her parents for the first four years of his life. Virginia returned to Louisiana in 1948 where she trained to become a nurse anesthetist. In 1950, Virginia married Roger Clinton and the new family relocated to their own home on Thirteenth Street in Hope.
His grandmother, Edith Cassidy, taught him the value of education and helped him learn to read before he began Kindergarten; his grandfather, James operated a store and modeled respect for all customers, regardless of race or gender, to his grandson. In this home, Bill learned early lessons about the importance of family, education and racial equality which served him in his public life and during his presidency.
The Cassidy family purchased the structure in 1940 while their daughter, Virginia, was in high school. In 1943, Virginia Cassidy met William Blythe, a traveling salesman, at Tri-State Hospital in Shreveport; Cassidy had moved to Louisiana after her high school graduation for nurses training. The pair were married after a brief courtship and immediately before Blythe was shipped out to Italy for military duty during World War II.
By May 1946, Virginia Blythe was pregnant with her first child and living in the home in Hope when her husband was killed after his car veered off a wet road outside Sikeston, Missouri. Virginia gave birth to her son, William Jefferson Blythe III, on August 19. Bill, as he was known, was raised in this home by his widowed mother and her parents for the first four years of his life. Virginia returned to Louisiana in 1948 where she trained to become a nurse anesthetist. In 1950, Virginia married Roger Clinton and the new family relocated to their own home on Thirteenth Street in Hope.
His grandmother, Edith Cassidy, taught him the value of education and helped him learn to read before he began Kindergarten; his grandfather, James operated a store and modeled respect for all customers, regardless of race or gender, to his grandson. In this home, Bill learned early lessons about the importance of family, education and racial equality which served him in his public life and during his presidency.