'The spark was lit': With RNC comes renewed attention to GOP's Wisconsin roots

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – As Milwaukee prepares to host the Republican National Convention, CBS 58 Sunday Morning is digging into the history of the party, that started in Wisconsin 170 years ago.

On March 20, 1854, the Grand Old Party laid roots.

"Congressmen, historians, and presidents have declared that this is the birthplace of the Republican Party," Mandy Kimes said.

Kimes is the Executive Director of the Ripon Chamber of Commerce. The organization operates The Little White School House, a place built for children to learn how to read and write and for community gatherings.

It was after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 that a group of Ripon residents met at The Little White School House to form a new organization opposing slavery.

"They knew that it was an immoral evil, but they also knew it was an economic threat because they were here as frontiersmen and they wanted to live out the great American dream," Kimes explained. "They debated, they talked to all these political parties that were represented. But at the end of the night, they all declared that they were now Republicans."

Nine years later, the first Republican President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery.

"A lot of people don't really know what it means to be the birthplace of the Republican Party, and that word and that sentiment has changed over the years. But when you look at the history, it means that this is a place where people really care, where they really are active citizens who are involved in the issues of their community, and where they're willing to take a stand against things that are worth taking a stand for," Kimes said.

Since then, the party has evolved and The Little White School House has moved around the tiny community of Ripon, but the impact it made on American politics is preserved through the non-partisan museum's work.

"Political parties are groups of people organizing around certain issues. So, the issues of 1854 and the party of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, are much different than the issues our country faces today," Kimes said. "When you learn about the history that happened here, it really teaches young people to become active citizens and to get engaged in their world."

Open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day, The Little White School House offers free admission, so anyone interested in seeing its history in person can.

"It's really cool when someone comes, and they don't think they're going to be interested, and they don't imagine that there'll be anything that they're going to take away from that experience, but they do," Kimes added.

If you cannot make it to Ripon, the museum will bring a miniature version of the building to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention to share more about the party's beginnings with the world.

"It's so cool that people in a very ordinary place, very ordinary people were able to start something, light a match, we say, the spark was lit. You know it carried on across the nation and we really believe that small people can make a difference," Kimes said.

For more information on The Little White School House, visit their website.