“Orson L. Arvin was my grandfather. His life was one of healing — early on from injuries sustained racing cars and motorcycles, and later in the lives of others as a physician and foreign missionary.

The time he spent in Jackson Hole was instrumental in shaping his career path.  He was recently married and began working in the movie industry in Los Angeles, then moved into heavy construction and served on ski patrol in Jackson. The chance discovery of a raven with a broken leg and the experience of tending to it inspired him to ask his wife, Bettye, a nurse, whether he could ever be a doctor. She simply replied — “You can do anything you put your mind to.”

He earned his GED while serving in the military in Korea. They returned to Kentucky, where Orson completed pre-med studies and, at age 38, was admitted to the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. As a senior, he received the award for outstanding work in Obstetrics and Gynecology and went on to deliver hundreds of babies as a general practitioner in family practice in rural Kentucky.

I never met him. He was retired from full-time practice and had worked for several years in medical missions when he passed away in service in Tanzania, Africa, at age 72. I was born 5 months after his passing. Fortunately, he was an avid collector, and I have only begun to discover him through seemingly endless documents, letters, and photographs that were left behind and preserved by my family.

A recent trip to Jackson Hole reawakened my interest in his archives and the stories I had heard growing up. This collection of images was created by reviewing thousands of intermingled slides from his lifetime of world travels. After high-resolution scanning, most required professional digital restoration to faithfully recover their original clarity and color. My hope is that these images can provide a glimpse into the history and mid-century life of Jackson Hole and illustrate the beauty and rich culture my grandfather experienced.”

— Emma C. Arvin, FNP