Finding Aid for Lester Leutwiler Chief Illiniwek Headdresses, Costume, and Accessories, ca. 1924-1928, and 1977 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

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.

Chief Illiniwek
University of Illinois

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