Leonie von Zesch, D.D.S.

A few years back I came upon a book called Leonie, which told of a woman who had studied and received her degree in Dentistry in 1902; she was twenty years old. She first was to practice in San Francisco, then to Arizona with the Hopi Indians, and also to the Klondike where she spent fifteen years. Later, back in California, for four years, she tended the dental needs of the young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps from 1932 until 1936. When the Federal Government appointed the Dental Reserve Corps to take over the CCC dental care she applied with them to continue. She was refused because she was a woman and she would find the job too taxing.

Leonie finally ended up as dentist for the California Institution for Women in Cummings Valley, while simultaneously maintaining a practice in Tehachapi from 1937 through 1942. Her writing skills were put to use in the form of journals which she faithfully kept. After she died in 1944 her writings were stored in her niece's attic for many years. Finally, upon an attic cleaning job, her niece began to read the journals and immediately started plans for publishing them. After I read the book, published in 2011, I loaned it to many folk and finally found myself without the volume but wishing I could re-read it. Then, lo and behold, I find the local museum has stocked the very book so I can now re-read Leoni's fabulous adventures. I'd like to share a few of those adventures with you:

Leonie was born in 1882 in Texas but was the granddaughter of a German count and countess. Her complete name would be Leonie von Meusebach-Zesch, but she and her parents were, themselves, Texans and Americans. She had studied in California to become what was described as a dental surgeon and had begun her career in San Francisco. A mere four years later she was to describe the great San Francisco earthquake. Her words let one see the fire that resulted from broken gas mains throughout the city. In fact, the San Francisco citizens measured time by saying, "before the fire," and, "after the fire," rather than using the word earthquake. She saved her dental instruments, but nothing else as her home, where she lived with her mother, was also burned.

Her travels to the Hopi Indian Reservation in 1915 found that in those days a majority of the Hopi did not yet speak English. She traveled by driving her Model T Ford Touring Car on the dirt highways at a break neck speed of twenty-five miles per hour! It was the custom in those days when so few people traveled, to stop and converse upon meeting other cars. If they were strangers in the region you would tell them the condition of the roads, the garage where gas could be purchased and what hotels were available.

On one occasion she came upon a lady traveling to Winslow to visit her (Leonie's) dental office to get a bridge repaired. Since Leonie was traveling away from Winslow at the time she did the dental repairs there on the highway using her foot pedal dental engine.

One interesting factor concerning the Model T Ford of that particular era was the only form of headlights were carbide lights, which had to be lit by matches as dark approached. If the moon was bright enough it was just as easy to drive by moonlight rather than the carbide headlights.

Her fifteen years in the Klondike presented "cold weather training." Traveling in the ice and snow was the norm by dog sled. She was able to handle dog sleds for transportation, "even as a woman".

Her tenure in Tehachapi, as well as the women's prison, lasted from 1937 through 1942. Her local office was in a back room of the Summit Hotel on Green Street. Her former experience with treating patients in prison left ingrained memories of stark, grey buildings with narrow cells . She was delighted with her first view of the California Institution for Women with a castle-like, French Normal style architecture . Even more appealing were the inmates in regular print, cotton dresses which they made themselves in the many craft classes offered. School classes were held as the State of California was conducting a new rehabilitation program for the inmates.

When treating the "girls" she had to fill out forms which asked what the profession of the inmate had been. One lady said she was a paper hanger. Dr. von Zesch thought that applying wall paper in homes rather unusual for a young woman. The inmate enlightened her by saying that was the term used by forgers.

Another pretty inmate said she had been a prostitute. Dr. von Zesch said she would write down that she was an entertainer. At that moment the inmate tipped her head back and laughed heartily saying, "Yeah, I'm an entertainer!" There were those, of course, who said they had no profession as they were, "only a housewife."

During her stay in Tehachapi she was formulating her manuscripts in preparation to someday publishing a book. She hired Tehachapi High School student Phyllis Porter, a pretty little drum majorette, who typed her manuscripts on "onion skin" paper for ten cents a sheet. Phyllis Porter Vukich is now 92-years-old and lives in Fullerton. She never misses an Old Timer's Picnic.

I am enjoying my re-reading of Leonie's book and all through it, when people would find out her profession, they would say, "But you're a woman!"

Yes, what a woman!