The Little White Schoolhouse tells an intriguing story of how the Republican Party came to be.
This simple frame schoolhouse, built in 1853, holds a powerful history. In the Little White Schoolhouse a decision was made by a small group of Ripon citizens that changed the future of our nation forever. On a cold and windy night, March 20, 1854, these Ripon citizens voted to form and become members of a new political party called "Republican." The birth of the Republican Party brought a dedicated following of individuals who pledged to organize together and fight against the spread of slavery.

"In this schoolhouse, on March 20, 1854, the first mass meeting in the country was held that definitely and positively cut loose from old parties and advocated a new party under the name "Republican." - excerpt from the Wisconsin Historical Site Marker that stands next to the Schoolhouse, erected in 1964.

The Formation of Ripon

The City of Ripon, where the schoolhouse is located also holds a fascinating history.The first non-American Indian settlement within the present city of Ripon was established in 1844 as a bold social experiment. A commune of 200 idealists, led by Warren Chase, settled in the western valley of the present city. This utopian socialist community, Ceresco — named after Ceres the Roman goddess of agriculture — lived together in common housing. Although the group was economically very successful, the experiment was abandoned for more independent living in 1851.

Meanwhile, in 1849, a second village was established on the hill east of Ceresco by Captain David P. Mapes and John Scott Horner. Mapes had lost his steamboat and his fortune in the East and was searching for a new home when he fell in love with a "silver creek weaving its way through Wisconsin’s rolling hills." Horner, a former governor of Michigan Territory and organizer of Wisconsin in 1836, owned the property in the area of the "silver creek" and agreed to give half to Captain Mapes. In return, Mapes would search for prospective settlers to move west to this prosperous land. The new village was named Ripon, after the English city in Yorkshire where Horner's ancestors had lived. The villages of Ceresco and Ripon were united in 1858 by the Wisconsin Legislature and called Ripon.

The Spark to Action

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, introduced in January 1854 by Sen. Stephen Douglas of Illinois, threatened to extend slavery to the Kansas and Nebraska Territories. His bill was based on "Popular Sovereignty," which allowed settlers to choose whether slavery would or would not exist within the territory. Douglas hoped the bill would satisfy the interests of both the North and the South.

What happened instead was damage to the Democratic party, in the issuance of an "Appeal to the people of the United States" protesting the revocation of the Missouri Compromise by a group of "anti-Nebraska Democrats" in Congress. In addition, the almost dormant Free Soil party suddenly found strength as thousands of defectors from the Whig party embraced the Free Soil ideology of land reform from the out-dated laws that required small farmers to make fuedal rent payments to large land holders in the Hudson Valley. In addition, Free Soilers believed a national homestead law that would assure every American family a freehold farm in the western territories was an opportunity of equality for the common man. The western territories should not be seized for settlement by the slave-holding plantation owners. 

On March 3, 1854, the "Popular Sovereignty" bill passed the U.S. Senate. Shortly thereafter, Alvan E. Bovay, an influential attorney living in Ripon, called a meeting to resolve, petition and organize against slavery.

The Declaration "Republican"

Bovay spent time canvassing shops and homes within Ripon to assess fellow citizens opinions. On March 20, 1854, 50 men, three women and one child gathered in the district's Little White Schoolhouse  to protest the extension of slavery into the Kansas and Nebraska Territories. The men voted to dissolve the local Whig and Free Soiler political organizations and proudly declared themselves "Republicans." Three Whigs, one Free Soiler and one Democrat were appointed to the committee of the new party. The Nebraska bill passed the House of Representatives on May 22, 1854. It was signed into law by President Pierce on May 30, 1854.

The Spread of the New Party

The new party was well received. Bovay had an influential friend - Horace Greeley, owner and editor of the New York Tribune. Bovay urged Greeley to throw his support to the Republican Party. On June 24, 1854,Greeley published an article in the Weekly Tribune, entitled " Party Names and Public Duty" where he recommended the name "Republican" for those who wished to return the Union to its original directive of champion and proclaimer of liberty. With Greeley’s continued influence, the name Republican was accepted throughout the states.

An Historic Landmark

The U.S. Department of the Interior has since proclaimed three sites as landmarks due to their role in the establishment of the Republican Party: Ripon’s Little White Schoolhouse, where the first local organization was established on March 20, 1854; a site in Jackson, Michigan, where the first state-level convention was held "under the oaks" on July 6, 1854; and the location of the first national meeting held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Feb. 22, 1856. In 1860, the Republican Party elected its first president, Abraham Lincoln.

The Creation of the Schoolhouse

Bovay, a young lawyer from New York, promoted education for the children of the pioneers. In 1853, the Little White Schoolhouse was built on the corner of Fond du Lac Street and Thorne Street, about 1 1/2 blocks from its present location. The schoolhouse proved a popular gathering spot for social and business activities within Ripon.

When the Little White Schoolhouse became too small to house the growing student population, it was sold to make way for a larger brick schoolhouse. A Ripon citizen purchased the building and used it as a private home for several years.

In 1908, the Ripon Commercial Club, the Ripon Historical Society and the Ripon City Council organized to save the Little White Schoolhouse from destruction. Since its construction, it has been relocated three times. Today it is located on Blackburn Street (U.S. Highway 23), serving as a museum enjoyed by visitors worldwide. The 100th anniversary of the Republican Party was celebrated at this location in 1954. In 1973, the schoolhouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. One year later, the U.S. Department of the Interior declared the building a National Historic Landmark.