PHOTO: Waukesha County Historical Society Museum WAUKESHA HIGH SCHOOL MANDOLIN CLUB The museum has a collection of yearbooks including the first yearbook for Waukesha High School, called the Javelin. It was published in 1902 and besides high school memories, it includes some history of the five grade schools: Union, Hadfield, Blair, Park and White Rock. As I was looking through it, I was interested in the group of students in the Mandolin Club. Looking into this group further, they started in January of 1902 and it seems this was in the middle of the mandolin "fever" that hit the USA. In January of 1880, a European mandolin group called “Estudiantina Figaro”, or the "Spanish Students”, began its tour of the US. This group along with recent Italian immigrants is given most if not all of the credit for the mass popularity of the mandolin at the time, which continued through the 1920's and was going strong in 1902. Curious about the group's director, Mrs. D. S. Tullar (back row second from left looks like her), I found that her husband's name might be recognized by those familiar with Waukesha history. He was a lawyer and judge and the last case he prosecuted is likely his most remembered. In 1918, he was Acting District Attorney for the team that prosecuted Grace Lusk and upon her conviction, she attempted to strangle him. As for Mrs. Tullar, she was born Jessie Medbury and married D. S. Tullar in Chicago in 1886. As she grew into her life in Waukesha, she was thought of as a prominent woman and musician and was noted as having a "fine soprano voice". Along with her husband and brother-in-law, H. A. Tullar, Jessie was a member of the Tullar Orchestra. Looking at the records for the Tullar Orchestra that are in the museum’s collection, the group seems to have had eight members and played big band/ dance music and Jessie played the piano. They were managed by H. A. Tullar and at one point they rented #3 and #4 in the Putney block on Main Street in downtown Waukesha. In 1896, they also rented a piano to be stored at the Althenauem Hall for their use for a year. So, Mrs. Tullar’s musical experience would have been an asset to the High School Mandolin Club. (fb)

This Memorial Day Weekend the Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum is hosting - Wisconsin Remembers: A Face for Every Name from the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. The traveling exhibit features a photo for each of the 1,161 Wisconsinites officially listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.. Wisconsin Remembers is a tribute to lost life and lost potential. The panels will be on display from Wednesday, May 21st, through May 31st. We are open Wednesday through Friday from 1 pm to 4 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. (fb)