The first school started in Oswego by the earliest settlers in the 1830s was funded by dues paid by the parents of attending students. However, in 1850 the Illinois legislature passed a bill allowing public schools to be funded through property taxes, greatly increasing the number of schools and the quality of education they provided.

The story of those times and how the Oswego area transformed from a small rural school district to one of the largest public school districts in Illinois is the subject of Back to School. Visitors to the Little White School Museum. The museum is located at 72 Polk St., just two blocks from Oswego’s historic downtown business district.

Designed and installed by museum manager Anne Jordan and museum assistant Emily Dutton, the exhibit is located in the museum’s main public area. A variety of rarely-seen materials selected from the museum’s collection, including artifacts, documents, and historical photographs, combine to narrate the changing landscape of public education in the community.

New special temporary exhibitions complement and expand the educational exhibits that are part of the museum gallery’s core exhibits.

Admission is free. Normal business hours are Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 2pm. Monday, 4pm to 9pm.and Thursday and Friday, 2:00pm to 6:30pm

A fully restored former Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1850 and used as an elementary school since 1915, the Little White School Museum is a joint project of the non-profit Oswegoland Heritage Association and the Oswegoland Park District .

For more information, call the museum at 630-554-2999 or visit littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org.