Full of Glee
I love the story of the Republican Glee Club. Here it is: It was 1872, shortly after the nomination of Ulysses S. Grant for his second term of President. Some men were enjoying a convivial evening in one of the rear rooms of the Old Ambos Restaurant and Café on South High Street, and discovered that they all liked to sing and all were Republicans. Henry W. Frillman, one of the group, had just returned from Chicago and reported on the activities of a political glee club he heard sing there. The men decided to start a Republican singing and marching club, and called themselves the Grant and Wilson Glee Club. They rehearsed rigorously and became much in demand at rallies around the state. They were even invited to take part in the inaugural festivities in D.C. After the election, the group disbanded but in 1876 reconvened as the Hayes and Wheeler Glee Club. Members participated in four successive campaigns, and participated in state and local campaigns as well. In 1895 they incorporated as “The Republican Glee Club of Columbus Ohio.”
In the late-1920s, they moved their headquarters to 57 Weber Road and remained there until about 2000. The building is now a private residence. (Photo courtesy of Tom Atzberger)