Apache name came from a "fix" in 1947
By Holli L. Rapp and Linda Pottier
The Apaches, as a name for IVCC teams, originated 52 years ago when the college was at L-P High School and called LaSalle-Peru-Oglesby Junior College.
The name may have come from long-time football coach and athletic director John Strell, and to have been approved in student body elections that were fixed.
The first nickname or mascot picked for the college may have been the Spartans, in 1942. An issue of the Hi-Co Courier, published by L-P High School and L-P-O Junior College, reports that a committee of faculty selected Spartans from names submitted by L-P-O students.
No future stories, however, use the name.
Purple and white became the L-P-O colors, when is not clear, and during the mid-1940s, L-P-O teams were being called The Purple Raiders.
In the late 1940s, L-P-O had a lettermen’s club, an active and powerful group on campus, according to newspaper accounts. Strell, starting his first year at L-P-O in fall 1946, began calling the lettermen the Tribe of Apaches. In an Apache interview in 1988, Strell said he used that name because of his background at the University of Illinois, where the lettermen were known as the Tribe of Illini.
In spring 1947, Strell asked the lettermen to come up with a name for L-P-O teams. As reported in a Nov. 28, 1988 issue of the Apache, Strell said: "During that period there were a lot of motion picture films depicting wars between the fierce Comanches and rival Apaches and the lettermen were equally divided between which of the two names they liked best."
The lettermen decided to submit the names to the student body, Strell said.
A Feb. 6, 1947, issue of the Keyhole, published by L-P High School and L-P-O, asks students to submit a name for "the boys in Purple and White." A Feb. 20, 1947 issue reports three names to be voted on: Apaches, Purple Raiders, and Invaders.
What had happened to the Comanches? According to Strell, a bit of Chicago-style politics. The name Comanches was not submitted for the student body vote because of economics; the printing of the extra letters for that name would be more expensive, Strell explained.
"It was a fixed-up job," Strell said. "There was a little bit of politicking."
The final vote, as reported in the Keyhole, was 179 for Apaches, 21 for Purple Raiders, 6 for Invaders, and 24 write-ins for Choppers.
Choppers? As Strell remembered it, there had been a successful junior league softball team called The Choppers.
The election, fixed or not, has determined the name for IVCC teams. As the March 6, 1947 issue of the Keyhole states:
"Although a desperate attempt by the lobbyists was made to promote a write in name for the J.C. athletic teams, the name of Apache struck a note of approval to the ears of 179 of the J.C. voters. All athletic teams, be they football, basketball, track, swimming, or what have you, will now be known as the L-P-O Apaches."
April 8, 1999 the Apache