The Scopes Monkey Trial

Along the waterways we seem to discover the most arcane little pieces of history. The tiny town of Dayton, Tennessee offered up just such a prize (as well as some great honey at the Farmer's Market). It was also a reminder that things aren’t always what they appear to be. If you remember hearing about the Scopes Monkey Trial, as I did when I searched through the fuzzy files in the gray matter, then read on to learn more.

Apparently in the early 20th century Dayton was a big mining center and as such became a large and thriving commercial area that provided for the needs of the miners and their families. Due to a series of explosions the mine was shut down and the town was languishing, businesses were closing, hotels were shuttered, things were grim.

Around this time schools around the country had begun teaching evolution. In January of 1925 a Tennessee state legislator, worried that his children would be corrupted by such teaching, introduced a bill to prohibit the teaching of evolution in the schools of the state and it becomes law.

In May of 1925 the ACLU placed an announcement in the Chattanooga Times
In which they offered to pay the expenses of a teacher willing to make a test case of the new law. A civic leader and promoter from Dayton saw the announcement and was quick to sense an opportunity to remedy the limping economy of the town. He hurried to discuss the matter with the owner of the local drugstore, the judge and the superintendent of schools. A young math teacher, John Scopes, was recruited and agreed to participate. How, you may ask, can a math teacher teach evolution? Well it seems that Mr. Scopes had, on a few occasions, substituted for the biology teacher; and besides they were mainly looking for any teacher willing to agree to participate in making a test case. Thus the “trial of the century” began as something of a publicity stunt to revive the fortunes of the town of Dayton.

Ultimately some of the best legal minds in the country participated in the spectacle. Famed orator and three time presidential candidate Williams Jennings Bryan served as the chief prosecutor and Clarence Darrow as the lead defense counsel.

Sensing that Dayton was going to get a lot of publicity Chattanooga tried, in vain, to have the trial moved to the city but Dayton outfoxed them and the trial was held in Dayton. It was the first national broadcast of an American trial with radio station WGN. Over 200 reporters thronged the press box, and 65 telegraph operators moved in and began sending more words to Europe and Australia than had ever before been cabled about any other American happening.

Read more accounts of the Scopes Monkey Trial at these links. Rhea County Courthouse was the site of the trial and today there is quite a little museum in the courthouse basement, the docent there was eager to share this bit of Dayton’s history. The most ironic thing is that both the prosecution and the defense wanted Scopes found guilty. The reason for this was that the ACLU (remember their announcement is what started this ball rolling) wanted a test case to take to a higher Court. In fact the Tennessee Supreme court did uphold the constitutionality of the law but reversed Scopes’ conviction on a technicality. The original plan to revive Dayton was certainly successful as the newsmen flocked to Dayton, they filled the empty hotels and many stayed with local residents who proved room and board.

In the aftermath of the trial John Scopes who had become the “forgotten man” in the entire production left Dayton, studied geology at the University of Chicago and worked for an oil company in South America before moving to Louisiana where he died in 1970. Bryan died five days after the verdict while he was still in Dayton. The citizens of Dayton initiated a memorial university to honor Bryan’s life and in an ironic twist the doors of “Williams Jennings Bryan University” (now Bryan College) were opened in 1930 in the old high school building where John Scopes had supposedly taught evolution.