Lindley Bothwell

Lindley Bothwell (August 1, 1901 – June 19, 1986) was a prosperous Southern California orange grower, a consulting citrus agriculturalist from his Lindley Bothwell Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, and an antique automobile collector and racer.

Bothwell is well known for being a founding member of the Trojan Knights, as well as a Yell Leader at the University of Southern California (USC) and for his invention of moving card stunts in stadium bleachers. He was the founder and volunteer coach of the USC Yell Leaders and Song Girls for 60 years.

Student years At University of Southern California Born in Los Angeles, Bothwell entered the University of Southern California (USC) in the year 1919. His choice of school made sense: his grandfather, Dr. Walter Lindley, was the first dean of the USC School of Medicine, and his aunts founded USC's chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta

The Yell Leaders In his freshman year at USC (1919), Bothwell and some of his friends decided that the fans at USC Trojans football games were not loud enough or energetic enough, and that having an energetic crowd could be a large factor in the success of the team. In pursuit of this goal, Bothwell formed the USC Yell Leading Squad (better known as the Yell Leaders), with Bothwell dubbed the "Yell King". The Yell Leaders were a group of male students who led the university's student section in cheers at football games. All of the cheers were original, and had an immediate effect on the fans and the team.

At Oregon State University In 1924, after Bothwell had graduated from USC with two degrees, he decided to attend Oregon State University), known then as Oregon Agricultural College, to study agriculture.

Automobile collector

Bothwell was avid antique car collector. By 1954, he was the owner of the largest private antique automobiles collection in the country. His collection included the 1911 Rolls-Royce which had belonged to Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. Bothwell served as the Los Angeles regional executive of the Sports Car Club of America.

Bothwell drove and raced some of them, and so created vintage racing in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. He used a 1913 Peugeot to break one of the speed records at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1949. Even though this was a new track record for the car's class, Bothwell failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 due to the Peugeot's age. She also kept his antique automobile collection intact, and running/run regularly on the ranch property.