Scopes Is Indicted in Tennessee for Teaching Evolution (80 yrs

[rodeodance]

ago)

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0525.html#article

This event took place on May 25, 1925, and was reported in the The New York Times the following day.



Scopes Is Indicted in Tennessee for Teaching Evolution

Nashville, Tenn., May 25 -- John T. Scopes, young Dayton (Tenn.) high school teacher, tonight stands indicted for having taught the theory of evolution to students attending his science classes in violation of a law passed by the Tennessee Legislature and signed by the Governor on March 21, 1925. The date for this trial has been fixed for July 10 at Dayton. The hearing of the case will bring many notables to the little mountain town, including William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow of Chicago and Dudley Field Malone of New York for the defense.

The indictment, returned by the Grand Jury convened in special session, was returned after evidence by Walter White, Superintendent of the Dayton public schools, and eight high school students had been heard by jurors. The session followed a charge by Judge John T. Raulston, who interpreted the law and included in his presentation for the reading of the first book of Genesis from the King James version of the Bible, in which the story creation is detailed.

The specific charge of the indictment is that on April 24, 1925, John T. Scopes, "did unlawfully and willfully teach in public schools of Rhea County, Tenn., which said schools are supported in part and in whole by the public school funds of the State, certain theory and theories that deny the story of Divine creation of man as taught in the Bible and did teach thereof that man descended from a lower order of animals." The penalty prescribed in the law for such violation is a fine from $100 to $500.

Telling .............

[Cooley Hurd]

1. We've gone full circle from "Inherit the Wind" to...

"Inherit the Ignorance."

Sad, isn't it?:(

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I'm disappointed with the part of the story that doesn't get mentioned.

I used to think that John Scopes was a hero of the Constitution, that he welcomed bringing evolution to public school education.

But the truth is that the ACLU put out ads in newspapers around the state of Tennessee, looking some plaintiff to test the statute that outlawed the teaching of evolution in public schools. Some Chamber of Commerce types in Dayton, TN saw the ad and figured that if they could find a teacher to break the law, the media and the country would descend upon their town, bringing great revenues with the trial.

School was already over and John Scopes, the high school science teacher was ready to leave town for vacation. These businessmen caught him in time, talked him into doing his civic duty (they didn't care one way or the other about the evolution law). He did, he got arrested, there was the trial, and the rest went Hollywood.

[rodeodance]

3. umm.. i had not heard this version.

[pnorman]

7. I had heard a similar story, from what I took to be a "reliable source".

That was a long time back, and it certainly warrants reinvestigation. But even were it true, it doesn't really change anything. NONE of the principal cast of characters were faking it (I'm excluding Scopes himself. He was the village socialist, and appears to have been well regarded in the community). That Scopes trial ("Monkey Trial") was an honest representation of the clash of two opposing cultures. Fundamentalism "won", but it was a pyrrhic victory. And as can be seen, it isn't over.

Here's a good collection of articles written about that trial, by an on the spot reporter: http://www.positiveatheism.org/tochmenk.htm H. L. Mencken can hardly described as a dispassionate observer; he had very strong convictions, and he had deep contempt for that Fundamentalist "culture". But he had a keen reporter's eye, and he had intellectual honesty.

pnorman

[thebigidea]

4. i'd love to see a cite for this, as it sounds like O'Reillyesque bullshit

because it sounds like a SERIOUSLY roundabout way of boosting tourism dollars...

[HawkerHurricane]

5. Unfortunately, it's true.

The bullshit law was tested by bullshit means.
Oh, and Mr. Scopes never paid the fine... the case was overturned on a technicality... the ACLU wanted to force it to the state or even U.S. supreme court (to get it struck down) and failed because the judge set too high a fine.
The case made Tennessee a laughingstock... but only to those middle class and above city folks. It made them heroes in the Bible Belt. For the next 50 odd years, people in cities would think that evolution had won... while everywhere else, they knew that the 'truth' was that "Gawd" had won.
Then the Fundies came out into the light, and surprised us all with thier numbers and organization... they had always been there, just below the radar.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. I'll look for a link. Otherwise, here's a book I read:

Six Days or Forever? Tennessee v.John Thomas Scopes by Ray Ginger, NY: Signet Books, 1958. I've read it in another book whose name escapes me.

Believe me, I was very disappointed to discover this teacher was a patsy for the Chamber of Commerce and really didn't risk anything for a principle.

"It sounds like a SERIOUSLY roundabout way of boosting tourism dollars..." -- And it worked, didn't it? This whole scheme was cooked up in a drugstore of all places.

[Brotherjohn]

8. Here you go: April 2005 Smithsonian Magazine

"Evolution on Trial"
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues05/apr05/evolve.html

"...most people think Dayton ended up in the spotlight because a 24-year-old science teacher named John Scopes was hauled into court there by Bible-thumping fanatics for telling his high-school students that humans and primates shared a common ancestry. In fact, the trial took place in Dayton because of a stunt. Tennessee had recently passed a law that made teaching evolution illegal. After the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced it would defend anyone who challenged the statute, it occurred to several Dayton businessmen that finding a volunteer to take up the offer might be a good way to put their moribund little town on the map."

I'm sure, however, they had no problem finding a willing volunteer (if I remember from the article, they point out that Scopes was a strong believer in evolution). And as some post above, how it came about doesn't change the fact that it happened. If an absurd law is passed today, people are often climbing over themselves to act in such a way as to force a challenge (admittedly not usually in conjunction with their local Chamber of Commerce). That doesn't make the challenge, and the principles, any less valid.

Now, I don't think the Smithsonian is the kind or organization guilty of historical revisionism. If they have any political bent at all, it would be to the left (but that would only be because they are interested in facts and evidence).

In fact, I remember reading a story in Smithsonian Magazine about Iraq several months before the war. An Iraqi citizen was quoted as saying that they would rather be ruled by their own monster than any outsider (or words to that effect). That right there explains the whole insurgency, and could have saved thousands of lives (if only Bush read Smithsonian Magazine... hell, ANY magazine).

[pnorman]

9. I got the impression that those businessmen

ended up with FAR more than they had planned, and may have deeply regretted their little "stunt". That nice little 'barbecue' had inflamed the entire region. Those Fundamentalists are SERIOUS, and had they realized that their beloved beliefs were being "toyed with", they'd have responded with Old Testament "justice". I bet those good businessmen were walking on eggshells for a long time afterwards.

pnorman