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: 2024.2620262.01
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Calfskin; glass beads; metal; feathers
Description: Size 12 calfskin moccasin with lane stitch glass beading, made in the style of Sioux Native Americans. Beadwork design features a white and light blue background with red, black, and orange triangles. Calfskin thong wrapped around the outside of the back piece of the moccasin. Two beaded straps extending from the vamp (top piece). One strap has two metal tassels on the end, one of which has small dyed purple feathers on the end. Beads are missing at the toe. Acquired by Lester Leutwiler at the 1924 Boy Scout Jamboree in Denmark.
Accession number: 2024.2620262.02
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Calfskin; glass beads; metal; feathers
Description: Size 12 calfskin moccasin with lane stitch glass beading, made in the style of Sioux Native Americans. Beadwork design features a white and light blue background with red, black, and orange triangles. Calfskin thong wrapped around the outside of the back piece of the moccasin. Two beaded straps extending from the vamp (top piece). One strap has two metal tassels on the end, one of which has small dyed purple feathers on the end. Beads are missing at the toe. Acquired by Lester Leutwiler at the 1924 Boy Scout Jamboree in Denmark.
Accession number: 2024.2620262.08
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Calfskin; glass beads; metal; feathers
Description: Calfskin leather strap with glass lane stitch beading, made in the style of Sioux Native Americans. One end of the strap is folded and stapled to be made shorter. The armband is fastened into a loop with calfskin cords. Beadwork design features a white background with red, black, and blue triangles and a red and blue border. There are metal tassels with dyed pink feathers on the end tied along the length of the cords. Based on the similarity between the design of the armbands and the moccasins, it was likely acquired by Lester Leutwiler at the 1924 Boy Scout Jamboree in Denmark.
Accession number: 2024.2620262.09
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Calfskin; glass beads; metal; feathers
Description: Calfskin leather strap with glass lane stitch beading, made in the style of Sioux Native Americans. One end of the strap is folded and stapled to be made shorter. The armband is fastened into a loop with calfskin cords. Beadwork design features a white background with red, black, and blue triangles and a red and blue border. There are metal tassels with dyed pink feathers on the end tied along the length of the cords. Based on the similarity between the design of the armbands and the moccasins, it was likely acquired by Lester Leutwiler at the 1924 Boy Scout Jamboree in Denmark.
Accession number: 2024.2620262.29
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Cotton; shell buttons
Description: Black cotton Army work shirt with left breast pocket. Half placket features four white shell buttons, with an additional smaller button on each sleeve cuff. Additional stitching on each shoulder and orange ribbon remants on the left shoulder (as worn) indicate possible attachment points for additional adornments. Fading and minor holes present throughout.
Accession number: 2024.2620262.30
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: cotton; bakelite beads; string
Description: Handmade, machine-sewn brown cotton shirt. Black grosgrain ribbon stitched to front of neckline to form ties at center split. The hem and sleeves have been cut at regular intervals and left unfinished to make fringe. String of multicolored Bakelite beads hand-stitched to the front of the shirt. Evidence of face powder remants at inside back neckline.
Accession number: 2024.2620262.03
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Black twill weave cotton; red cotton; ivory twill tape; ivory cotton tape; yellow, white, green, black, red beads; green painted leather
Description: Rectangular pieces of black twill-weave cotton layered over each other and stitched in the middle to create a long, narrow loincloth. Bordered in red raw-edge cotton along all edges, except for several inches on either side of the fold line. An ivory cotton twill tape is placed just inside the red binding on the bottom half of the front side, while an ivory cotton tape serves the same purpose on the other side. The beadwork is lane-stitched and lies within the ivory twill tape portion, featuring a white bison with yellow beard on a green animal skin circle layered with a red cotton circle, both hand-appliqued to the black twill. Underneath the bison is a white arrow with a red stripe of beads. On each side of the circle is a white rectangle with a yellow border. Green squares are spaced equidistant within the rectangle. The presence of multiple stitch lines indicates amateur machine sewing.
Accession number: 2024.2620262.06
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Green cotton sateen, ivory twill tape, denim, red cotton twill, hide, beads
Description: Machine-sewn chap leg made of red cotton. Green sateen binds the hem and lines the outermost portions of the chap. Ivory twill tape binds each edge of outseam. Denim faced waistband for reinforcement, likely to support a tie. Beading done on a strip of hide appliqued to the chap at an angle along the outseam, featuring representations of the American flag among other, likely Indigenous-inspired, designs.
Accession number:2024.2620262.07
Physical condition: Fair
Material composition: Green cotton sateen, ivory twill tape, denim, red cotton twill, hide, beads
Description: Green cotton sateen, ivory twill tape, denim, red cotton twill, hide, beads
Description: Machine-sewn chap leg made of red cotton with fading at the knees. Green sateen binds the hem and lines the outermost portions of the chap. Ivory twill tape binds each edge of outseam. Denim faced waistband for reinforcement, likely to support a tie. Beading done on a strip of hide appliqued to the chap at an angle along the outseam, featuring representations of the American flag among other, likely Indigenous-inspired, designs. Repairs were machine- and hand-sewn using red twill.
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