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HISTORY LESSON
by Bill Carey, the Tennessee History Guy
Scopes Trial didn’t quite happ
By Bill Carey, assisted by Tom Davis, director of public information at Bryan College
Photographs courtesy of Bryan College Archives
D
ayton is a quiet town. But there was
one summer when it was everything
but quiet. A long time ago, in 1925, Dayton was the scene of one of the most
famous trials of all time, usually referred
to as the Scopes Trial. Today there is a
small museum there that tells you all
about what happened.
This is what the trial was about: Back
in 1859, English scientist Charles Darwin came out with the theory of evolution. Among other things, Darwin argued
that human beings slowly descended
from another species of animals over
millions of years.
In 1925, a Tennessee state representative from Macon County named John
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Th e Te n n e s s e e M a g a z i n e
Butler proposed a bill that would make it
illegal to teach evolution in the public
schools. Originally the bill died in the
Senate Judiciary Committee. But it
passed at the last minute, under circumstances that hint that Gov. Austin Peay
may have made a deal to arrange its
approval. “The governor was really
opposed to the bill and told me so himself, but he simply didn’t have the
courage to veto it,” Cecil Sims, a state
senator in 1925, later said in a speech. By
John Scopes, above center, stands during
sentencing. He was fined $100. The Rhea
County Courthouse, left, as it appeared in
1925, now houses the Scopes Museum in its
basement.
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HISTORY LESSON
by Bill Carey, the Tennessee History Guy
pen the way people remember
the way, Sims had only three years earlier co-founded the
Nashville law firm Bass Berry & Sims.
A few weeks later, the American Civil Liberties Union let it
be known that it would pay the legal expenses of anyone willing
to challenge the new law.
Some of the folks in Dayton saw this ad, and they got to thinking: If there is going to be a trial challenging this law, and it’s
going to be big news, then why not have it here? After all, it
would be good publicity for the town, and it would help the
hotels and restaurants. So these folks convinced John Scopes, a
teacher at the local high school, to agree to challenge it. Scopes
signed on as the plaintiff, even though he may never have taught
the first lesson about evolution.
Before long, the trial of State of Tennessee vs. Scopes was on,
and the whole nation was following it. Scopes’ lead attorney was
Clarence Darrow of Chicago; the best-known attorney representing the state was William Jennings Bryan (who had been the
Democratic nominee for president three times). National newspapers and radio stations descended on the small town. Dayton’s
downtown took on a carnival-like atmosphere, with
people selling souvenirs and
even carrying monkeys with
them.
The trial took place in
July 1925. It was hot and
crowded in the courtroom.
While a national radio audience listened in, attorneys
Darrow and Bryan focused
the trial not on Scopes’
actions but on evolution
itself. It was almost as if
Darwin was on trial. At one
point, Darrow put Bryan on
the stand, asking him questions about the validity of
the Bible.
Scopes lost the case and
A chimpanzee named Joe Mendi
was one of the biggest hits when was fined $100. His attorney
Dayton took on a carnival-like later appealed to the Tenatmosphere for the Scopes Trial.
nessee Supreme Court,
which threw out his conviction on a technicality.
William Jennings Bryan died only a few days after the
Scopes Trial. When the case was appealed to the state supreme
court, his place as lead attorney was taken by Kinnard T.
Clarence Darrow, left, represented Scopes, while William Jennings
Bryan, right, argued for the state of Tennessee. The trial’s focus
turned to evolution versus creationism, not Scopes’ actions.
McConnico, one of the founders of the Nashville law firm now
known as Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis.
Then,
several
decades later, someTennessee History for Kids
one wrote a play
Bill Carey is a Nashville author and
called “Inherit the
executive director of Tennessee HisWind” that was loosetory for Kids, an online Tennessee
ly based on the events
history textbook. For more great stoof that summer. It
ries of Tennessee history, go to
later became a great
www.tnhistoryforkids.org.
movie, which you can
rent at most video
stores. One warning about “Inherit the Wind,” however: The
movie does not accurately depict what occurred that summer.
All of these events are explained at the Scopes Museum,
located in the basement of the old Rhea County Courthouse in
Dayton. And, by the way, the Scopes Trial is re-enacted at the
courthouse every summer by Rhea County residents, including
some of the staff and students at Bryan College. This year the
event will take place July 14-16.
If you come, leave your monkey at home. But bring a fan. As
everyone found out in 1925, it gets hot in Dayton in July.
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