Interviewee

Vincent Ravel, M.D.

Interviewer

Archives Staff -- University Library

Project

El Paso Medical Community

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee

Longtime El Paso physician; board certified radiologist; born in 1914; sone of Lithuanian immigrants; attended Lamar School; Bailey School, Morehead School, and El Paso High School; served in U.S. Navy; graduate of University of Pennsylvania; interned at Albert Einstein Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Summary of Interview

Recounts immigration of family from Lithuania to U. S.; briefly sketches history of Jewish community in El Paso; father's role in founding Congregation of Mena Zion; arranged marriage of parents; opening of pawn shop in South El Paso, City Loan and Jewelry, by father and cousin Sam Ravel; shootings in El Paso at turn of century; purchase of ammunition, guns, and pistols by Pancho Villa; Columbus Raid; Pershing Expedition to Mexico; El Paso's red light district on Ninth Street in 1930s; physical examinations of prostitutes; comments on El Paso's recognition as health center for tuberculosis patients; recounts tuberculosis sanitoriums in El Paso, including Southwestern General Hospital; neurodermatitis patients' move to El Paso; economic struggles during the Depression; advent of sulfas in 1937; availability of antibiotics and penicillin in WW II; incidence of leprosy in El Paso; mentions experience as physician for Texas Wrestling Commission.

Date of Interview

1968

Length of Interview

1 ¼ hours

Tape Number

No. 14

Transcript Number

No 14

Length of Transcript

37 pages

Transcriber

Amy Bené

Interview Number

No. 14

Terms of Use

Unrestricted

Share

COinS