Holdings Alumni Association Alumni Lester Leutwiler Chief Illi... Finding Aid By A. Dickerson, C. Gimbel, E. Gutknecht, E. Harris, K. Higley, E. McAllister, L. Mullins, A. Nyasulu, K. Pursell, H. Shepherd, A. Smerz, A. Smith, F. Upchurch, Q. Xiong
Title: Lester Leutwiler Chief Illiniwek Headdresses, Costume, and Accessories, ca. 1924-1928, and 1977
ID: 26/20/262
Primary Creator: Lester Leutwiler (1907-1993)
Extent: 6.5 cubic feet
Arrangement: Unarranged.
Date Acquired: 06/17/2024
Subjects: Chief Illiniwek, University of Illinois
Consists of materials created and acquired by Leutwiler as a Boy Scout and used during his time portraying the University of Illinois Chief Illiniwek (1926-1928), including three headdress (one Roach headdress, one short headdress, and one long headdress), a quiver, a pair of moccasins, two arm bands, a black shirt, a brown shirt with beads, a beaded loincloth, two beaded chaps, four wigs (including one cloth wig), two peace pipes (one for the William Penn character and one for Chief Illiniwek created for the first halftime performance), a shaker, two sets of bells, an arrow, two beaded adornments, face powder, beads and a sewing kit, a drum beater, a calfskin drum, and four hair medallion trophies. Except for the moccasins and armbands acquired by Leutwiler from an unidentified indigenous person during Leutwiler's visit to Camp Ten-Sleep in 1925, Leutwiler's headdresses, costume, and accessories are approximations of Indigenous culture most likely inspired by the Sioux culture. The collection also includes a mounted photograph by Richard Brooks depicting Mike Gonzalez (the 21st person to play the role of the University of Illinois Chief Illiniwek) performing a dance in his Chief Illiniwek regalia.
Lester Glen Leutwiler (1907-1993) was the first portrayer of the Chief Illiniwek mascot at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Leutwiler was born in Urbana on April 1, 1907, to Oscar Adolf Leutwiler, a mechanical engineering professor at the University, and Elise Verena (Kaeser) Leutwiler. He received a degree in mechanical engineering from the University in 1929 and worked at Pet, Inc., for the majority of his career. In 1930, Lester married Anna Louise Still (1907-1989), a dietician and fellow graduate of the University of Illinois. The couple had three children, Ann (Gasaway), Jean (Brandenburger), and Robert Leutwiler.
Leutwiler developed a deep interest in indigenous culture through his time in the Boy Scouts of America, in which he earned the rank of Eagle Scout and member of the Order of the Arrow. In August 1924, Leutwiler traveled to Denmark to participate in the International Boy Scout Jamboree, where he learned a Sioux dance from scoutmaster Ralph Hubbard. The following year, Leutwiler constructed the first artifacts that became his Chief Illiniwek costume while attending Hubbard’s Camp Ten-Sleep in Elbert, Colorado. In the spring of 1925, Leutwiler first performed what he had learned about Native American dance at an annual senior event at Urbana High School. Raymond Dvorak, the director of the Urbana High School band and the University of Illinois Marching Band, attended the event. Dvorak was intrigued by the performance and invited Leutwiler during his sophomore year at the University of Illinois to perform this same dance during and Illinois football game.
On October 30, 1926, Leutwiler debuted the Chief Illiniwek mascot at the halftime performance of the Illinois at Pennsylvania football game. Though his character, which originated from an amalgamation of indigenous culture, existed prior to 1926, Leutwiler was the first to portray it. Performing with the University Band under the direction of A. A. Harding and Ray Dvorak, Leutwiler exchanged his tomahawk for a peace pipe and linked arms with Illinois student George Adams, playing the role of William Penn using a costume loaned by the competing university. By November 11, Chief Illiniwek had been declared a regular feature of Illini games. Leutwiler would portray the Chief until the end of the 1928 football season.
Leutwiler continued his association with the Boy Scouts of America through his role as a scoutmaster and made appearances at the University to mark anniversaries of Chief Illiniwek’s debut. Leutwiler passed away on February 10, 1993. Various students continued to perform as the University's Chief Illiniwek until the mascot’s last performance on February 21, 2007.
Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Access Restrictions: The artifacts may not be not be displayed for public exhibitions but may be used for scholarly research. Please contact the Director of the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music for further information.
Acquisition Source: Barbara Leutwiler and Peter Brandenburger. Gift
Acquisition Method: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music originally acquired the Lester Leutwiler materials through a gift from Lester Leutwiler's daughter-in-law Barbara Leutwiler, Boulder, CO., on June 17, 2024. An additional drum was added to the collection on November 14, 2024, as a gift from Lester Leutwiler's nephew Peter Brandenburger, Portand, OR.
Appraisal Information: Any items related to Lester Leutwiler's activities as the University of Illinois Chief Illiniwek, interest in Indigenous culture, and connections to the Chief throughout his lifetime were retained by the Sousa Archives. Items that could not be identified, or held no evidential, informational, or instrinsic value were deaccessioned, including a khaki shirt, straps, ties, belts, several lengths of cloth, and two placards used in an exhibition of Leutwiler's costume and accessories in the Illini Union in the late twentieth century.
Related Materials: Mark H Hindsley Papers, 12/9/20 Richard Brooks Papers and Chief Illiniwek Triptych Panel Mural, 26/20/204 Robert and John Bitzer Chief Illiniwek Papers and Regalia, 26/20/258 University Bands Collection, 12/9/93
Accession number: 2024.2620262.13
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Horse hair; golden eagle feathers; unidentified down feathers; leather; glass beads; yarn; ribbons; felt; shoelace
Description: Headdress contains 29 golden eagle feathers, attached to a taupe colored felt cap. Additional feather material is glued to the top of each eagle feather. Each feather’s shaft is wrapped in a tan fabric with unidentified down feathers and a leather loop bound with red thread. These are attached to the cap via a leather cord. A hidden string gives the headdress its shape. Within the cap a horsehair wig is attached via string. Two thick braids on either side of the wig end with a red felt cuff. At the top of each braid is another red felt cuff bound in a green yarn. Inside the wig is a cloth cap to which the horsehair structure is bound. The horsehair is in fair condition and is exhibiting breakage and flaking. A beaded band of turquoise crosses the cap’s forehead with geometric patterns of red, yellow, black, and white beads. At each end of the beaded band red and yellow ribbons and shoelace fall in line with the horsehair braids (*note yellow ribbon on left side appears to have been removed prior to acquisition).
Accession number: 2024.2620262.12
Physical condition: Poor
Material composition: Horse hair; felt; leather; fabric; wool; metal; golden eagle feathers; glass beads; thread; yarn; unidentified down feathers; stoat skin; deerskin
Description: Headdress contains two dark green lengths of fabric (one on each side of the wearer). Each length of dark green fabric contains 21 golden eagle feathers. Each feather has an unidentified yellow or orange feather and a lock of horsehair glued to the tip. Each feather’s shaft is bound with a down feather in red fabric and a leather loop, wrapped with green yarn. From here, each feather is attached via a leather cord that weaves between holes cut in the green length of fabric. The interior of each length of green fabric is a faded orange color, from which the leather cord attaching the feathers is much more visible. Each length is finished in tan bias strips along the edges and stitched with tan thread to a deerskin cap. The cap appears to be pre-made, and there are small metal eyelets, similar to a baseball cap. A faded green fabric is stitched to the outside of the cap. 24 feathers are decorated and attached to the cap as previously described. A beaded band of white beads crosses the forehead of the cap. The beaded band contains geometric patterns in red, green, black, and turquoise colored beads. The band is in poor condition and exhibits fading and fraying. A circle of orange felt covered with a metal disk resides at the temple area on either side of the cap. Hanging from the right side of the headdress near the face are leather straps, brown/orange fabric ribbons, and miscellaneous small down feathers. Hanging from the left side of the face are leather straps, orange and red ribbons, and the skin of a small ferret. Attached to the top of the cap is a thick cord/flexible shaft wrapped in various colored threads to make orange, black, and white patterns. A spotted and miscellaneous feathers complete the tip of this structure. The base of this structure is bound in red fabric and attached to the cap via leather strap. Several turkey feathers are also attached to the top of the cap forming a “crown." The turkey feathers are hidden by the much larger golden eagle feathers.
Accession number: 2024.2620262.15
Physical condition: Good
Material composition: Wool felt; leather; fabric; sinew; beads; metal; thread
Description: Length of canvas-like green fabric with red fabric bias strip sewn with thick cord along one length of green fabric, each end of the green fabric has red fabric bias strips stitched on, with the lower end containing fringe. A thick strip of flat gray cord is stitched to the green length of fabric to create a "sash." Bead and fringe work is located on the top and middle portion of the "sash." Quiver is stitched to sash with thick cord and red bias strips. Quiver is made from green canvas, constructed into a "tube." A red bias strip is sewn along one edge with a thick cord and thick fringe. The top of the quiver has a red bias strip and a rectangular bead work patter with fringe on the bottom. The bottom of the quiver has a red bias strip and long fringe, much like the long edge. A beaded cross patter is also located towards the bottom of the quiver.
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