Dr. Nancy Leveque interview, July 3, 1975: transcript

UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 1 An Interview with Nancy Leveque An Oral History Conducted by Robin Wright Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 2 © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2020 UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 3 The Oral History Research Center (OHRC) was formally established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada System in September 2003 as an entity of the UNLV University Libraries’ Special Collections Division. The OHRC conducts oral interviews with individuals who are selected for their ability to provide first-hand observations on a variety of historical topics in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The OHRC is also home to legacy oral history interviews conducted prior to its establishment including many conducted by UNLV History Professor Ralph Roske and his students. This legacy interview transcript received minimal editing, such as the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 4 Abstract On July 3, 1975, Robin Wright interviewed Doctor Nancy Leveque (b. 1933 in Oak Park, Illinois) about her time living in Las Vegas, Nevada. The interview covers, among many wide-ranging topics, Leveque’s move to and away from Las Vegas, her career as a veterinarian, and the practice she and her then-husband built. Leveque also discusses how the city of Las Vegas has changed—environmentally and socially—, special interest groups and social activities, as well as natural phenomena. Throughout the course of the interview, Leveque provides anecdotes about prominent figures and old Las Vegas traditions, such as Helldorado. UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 5 Is Doctor Nancy Leveque. The date is July 3, 1975. The time is one o’clock. Her address is 2631 South Highland Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89114. Her phone is 733-7652 and this interview is about the life of a Las Vegas veterinarian. Okay Nancy, were you born in Nevada? No, I was not. Where were you born? I was born in Illinois. Where about? In Oak Park, Illinois. What made you decide to come to Nevada and when did you come? My then-husband and myself graduated from the University of Illinois in 1958 and we came to Nevada because he had allergy problems, hay fever and asthma, which he could not bear up with back in the middle (unintelligible) and this was the only place he found relief. All right. I understand that you don’t live here anymore. What made you move? In 1973 I debated about going from practicing to research and, in order to do this in my field, one needed an advanced degree. Particularly if you’ve been out of school like ten or fifteen years, you need to go back and refresh yourself. So, I was interested in the field of veterinarian endocrinology and the only well-known veterinarian endocrinologist was at the University of Pennsylvania. So I applied to the University of Pennsylvania graduate school and was accepted and I started there in January 1974. Okay, can you explain about en— Endocrinology. Right. UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 6 It’s the diseases of the glands of internal secretion, like the adrenal gland, the pancreas, the thyroid and the glands of reproduction. All right. Did you go to school here? Did you continue any education while you were here in Las Vegas? In 1972 I took Russian for one year and just being in class every day and being back in school sort of wet my appetite to go back to school. I actually used the Russian then when I went to Pennsylvania for my foreign language requirements for my PhD. Mm-hmm. And now? And now I’m just about finishing up my formal coursework. I will be studying research projects in the fall. What church did you belong to while you were residing here? I was a member of the Roman Catholic Church and of several perishes because I moved around a couple times during the seventeen years I lived here. Okay, can you tell us a little about your church activities? Well actually the only church activity was connecting with the school when my children were in the elementary school, it was a Catholic school. One year I did teach P.E. (Laughs) For a grade at Our Lady of Las Vegas School and that’s actually the only really church activity that I had other than going to church for mass on Sundays. Right. Did you have an interest in politics and, if so, which party? I wasn’t active in political life myself, but my ex-husband, who was at the time my husband, did receive an appointment to the Nevada State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from Governor Paul Laxalt and it was in the Republican administration in the sixties. UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 7 Can you tell us any, you know, some of his jobs or of some of his— My ex-husband you mean? Right. Well he was put on some committees by Governor Laxalt. I don’t remember exactly what they were but they were just, you know, regular community (unintelligible) by the Governor to do with community life here in Las Vegas and the state of Nevada. Okay, did you participate in any special interest groups or any social activities? I was a member of the Paradise Valley Women’s Golf Association and the Desert Inn Women’s Golf Association. I was a member of the Catholic Daughters of America, a member of the Sunrise Hospital Auxiliary and the Las Vegas Emblem Club before I left here. So you were quite busy? Mm. How do you feel about gambling? Well, it’s alright for other people, but I’m not very lucky and I make a deliberate, distinct practice not to gamble. I don’t believe that you can live in this town and gamble. Right. Okay, do you recall any visits from prominent people to the Las Vegas area and what do you remember? In 1964, President Johnson made a stop over here and I remember taking my children out to the airport to see Air Force One because, of course, they were very interested in planes like that. And remember waiting out there for, I think, three hours for his plane to arrive. By the time it arrived, it was dark and the first plane landed, which we thought was Air Force One, turned out to be the jet with all of the reporters on it. (Laughs) So, you know, you run over to the fence and it wasn’t the president’s plane. But finally it landed, it was too dark really to see anything. UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 8 Oh no. And I didn’t actually hear him give a speech, but that’s the closest I really came to seeing him. Anybody else? Mm, not that I can remember of national prominence. Right. Okay. Do you remember anything about the above ground atomic tests? When we first moved here in 1958 they were still being carried on, and I remember getting up early one morning and actually seeing one. It was very impressive, something you don’t forget, the sight of that mushroom cloud rising in the sky and the fireball that precedes it. It was impressive. Was it very noisy? No, actually you don’t hear anything this far away but you could really, you know, see that flash and then the cloud. What changes have you noticed in Southern Nevada since you first arrived in economic and environmental? Well of course with inflation (laughs) the prices of everything have gone up. But when I first came here the Las Vegas valley had a population of about forty or fifty thousand and now it’s about, what, five times that. And of course in those days the celebration which we call Helldorado was the biggest celebration of the year and now it’s kind of really lost its importance. But that was really the big thing of the year, was the parades and everything. Everybody turned out for Helldorado. And everybody wore western clothes. You actually got thrown into what they called the (unintelligible) kangaroo court if you weren’t wearing western clothes and you were downtown on Fremont Street during those days. And people just had a generally friendlier UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 9 outlook towards one another, now they seem to be, you know, just like any really big city back East. Everybody goes their own separate way. Can you explain to me what all the Helldorado had in it because I’m not, you know, familiar with that. Well there were really three parades. The Old Timers Parade was the one that everybody really turned out for and that was on Friday. And the Children’s Parade was on Saturday, usually that was a lot of children all dressed up. And the Beauty Parade on Sunday. But it was definitely something to see, everybody turned out Downtown. (Laughs) Okay, do you remember any natural events over the years such as floods or forest fires, snow storms or earthquakes? When we first moved here, of course the area was subject to flash floods and, in particular, the Charleston underpass was noted for not being able to take the overflow from the mountains which seemed to come down Charleston Boulevard in a natural wash. And so one fall I do remember there was a particularly heavy rainstorm and the flood waters backed up into my living room which was quite a distance from Charleston Boulevard. It was at the intersection of Main and Oakey, now so you can see that that’s quite a ways for the waters to backup but they did come up into the living room. And then in 1961, I don’t think this has ever happened since or before, we had what was described as a tornado. It was the last week in September, I remember that because I was pregnant and my baby was born exactly a week after that. And these high winds came right down the Strip, the path of this was just right down the Strip and then it veered across the railroad tracks and came down Highland Drive. It blew up all the windows in our animal hospital situated on Highland Drive on the west side and deposited a (unintelligible) of hail inside and that was really, what I would say, the most unusual natural phenomenon that UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 10 happened in the seventeen years I lived here. Other than the really high wind storms, there’s been a few of those. Okay, we were talking a minute ago about any environmental changes since you first arrived. Can you describe what Las Vegas looked like, you know, the buildings and the structures that were around when you first came? Most of them were ground level, there were hardly any high-rises at all. The first high-rise I can remember was the Sahara. The small Sahara high-rise. And then, of course, I guess the Riviera was built at that time, the first Riviera high-rise. But everything else, the Dunes included, was just the one floor, with almost a ranch-type of architecture and there just weren’t any high-rises. As far as the environmental changes that I can say this as regards to my profession, we have noticed an increase in the tick problem due to the increase in the moisture because of the swimming pools, and the grass, and the water needed to keep them in shape. And so the tick problem has become a problem in this area, whereas in 1958 we hardly ever saw ticks, and now there’s a problem. Do the people in Las Vegas seem that much different than they were seventeen years ago? You said that they seemed a little more on their own and not quite as friendly. But as far as the social activities and stuff—? Well it seems to me that they are becoming more, shall we say, what I would term sophisticated. Things were very informal when we first moved here, now there are more formal parties and, you know, fairs where you really have to dress up. Before you could just, you know, go anywhere in oh a skirt or pants or something like that. All right. You were the first licensed woman veterinarian in the state of Nevada. Did you find much prejudice against you from your male colleagues? UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 11 No, I didn’t find any prejudice at all. They were all very friendly and cooperative towards me. And I never tried to, you know, push myself as being the only woman this or that, so we got along very well. Do you promote women’s liberation—? Certain tenants of it. Definitely. If I’m asked. I don’t, in other words, I don’t go out and wave a flag, or say this or that, or enter into demonstrations. But if I’m asked, I’ll give my opinion. (Unintelligible) What were the working conditions seventeen years ago? In my profession? Mm-hm. Well actually we came out here and we worked for another veterinarian for two years before we opened up our own place and starting salary at that time was like $500 a month (laughs). But we did get a place to live along with it so it wasn’t that bad. I did not have a job at the time. There was only room for one practitioner in this opening and so my husband had a job and I just, more or less, rode along. And I would keep my hand in but, in a few cases, but I didn’t get paid for it. Until we opened up our own place two years later. All right. Okay, what were some of the major improvements in your practice while you were here? Mostly in equipment and in the, shall we say, the sophistication of our techniques that we were able to apply to animals. Very similar to what is applied to a human being. The same machines, an x-ray machine or something like that, is available to a veterinarian that is available to a doctor now. And we can take advantage of that. All right. UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 12 And, particularly, the laboratory service. In other words, we can send off samples to the laboratories, whereas before we did our own laboratory samples. Blood counts and things like that. Now and in the last, say, five or seven years, we were able to utilize clinical labs that doctors use. Did you find the college and University of Nevada any help at all? Did you then or do you now? As far as things like exotic species, reptiles and things like that, they would be very much of a help, but not domesticated animals because there isn’t a veterinary school here. More or less we would send off our cases that we could not diagnose to the University of California. Their fees are very reasonable, or were anyway the last time we utilized them. All right, did you face any natural or artificial conditions that had a major turning point in your field, like droughts or anything? The only thing would be the extra moisture now as far as the parasite problems concern. And can you name a few of the, what should I say, movie stars that came and visited you and asked you to help their poor, suffering animals? We have taken care of the animals of Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher when they were married. And we have taken care of the animals of Juliet Prowse, (unintelligible), Jerry Leon, (unintelligible) and Zsa Zsa Gabor made a visit to our animal hospital one day. How about some of the prominent local people? Have you had them as clients and can you name some? One of our more frequent clients is Frederic Apcar and his wife. They have about four or five dogs and they come in quite frequently. We’ve taken care of their dogs for oh, at least I believe, eight or ten years. UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 13 That was with the casino Dune correct? Right. Can you talk about the growth of the Las Vegas area and the university? Well just as an example, when we built our clinic, which is situated two blocks, I would say, south of Sahara on Highland, at that time it was the only building in that area and at night, when we first built, we did live upstairs when we first built, we could go out on our balcony and see the jackrabbits and the coyotes running across the desert. There were no other buildings within miles of that location. As for the University of Nevada, there was only one building here which is and wasa the registration building, they were in the process of building, I guess it’s the fine arts building. But there wasn’t (unintelligible) when we first came in ’58. How about commercialization? Do you find it much more commercialized now than it was then? What commercialized? The town. Oh, definitely. Definitely. As far as advertisements and things like that, and taking advantage of holidays, yes. Very much. Oh, as far as the airport, that reminds me, the airport. The airport was the old McCarren Airport situated on the strip which is now the Hughes terminal. And, of course they were flying, TWA was flying little constellation (unintelligible), there were no jets. And there was nothing out beyond that where the present airport is located now. That was all desert. And my parents used to come out to visit and I can remember, you know, putting them on the old propeller airplanes, I guess it was nineteen sixty-two or three [September 1960] that the jets first made their appearance here and that’s when they decided to build a new airport out here. So that has really been a change too. UNLV University Libraries Nancy Leveque 14 Okay, well thank you very much for contributing to our oral history of Southern Nevada. You’re quite welcome, it was my pleasure.