Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion

by Edward Larson

  65 George McCready Price to W. J. Bryan, 1 July 1925, in Bryan Papers.

  66 Howard A. Kelly to W. J. Bryan, 15 June 1925, in Bryan Papers.

  67 W. J. Bryan to Howard A. Kelly, 22 June 1925, in Bryan Papers.

  68 W. J. Bryan to S. K. Hicks, 10 June 1925, in Hicks Papers.

  69 Ibid.

  70 Samuel Untermyer to W. J. Bryan, 25 June 1925, in Bryan Papers.

  71 Herbert E. Hicks and Sue K. Hicks to W. J. Bryan, 10 June 1925, in Hicks Papers; Herbert E. Hicks and Sue K. Hicks to W. J. Bryan, 13 June 1925, in Hicks Papers; W. J. Bryan to S. K. Hicks, 16 June 1926, in Hicks Papers; Ginger, Six Days or Forever? 74-78.

  72 Herbert E. Hicks and Sue K. Hicks to John T. Raulston, 1 July 1925, in Hicks Papers.

  73 “Give Up Schools Before Bible Is Peay’s Attitude,” Nashville Tennessean, 27 June 1925, p. 1.

  74 “Dayton Trial Will Be Brief, Nashville Lawyer Predicts,” Nashville Banner, 9 June 1925, p. 10.

  75 W. J. Bryan to W. B. Marr, 15 June 1925, in Darrow Papers.

  76 “Stewart Predicts Act Will Stand Acid Test,” Chattanooga Times, 11 June 1925, p. 2.

  77 “Scopes Counsel Expect Trial to Last Month,” Nashville Tennessean, 23 June 1925, p. 1; Arthur Garfield Hays, “The Strategy of the Scopes Defense,” The Nation, 5 August 1925, pp. 157-58.

  78 “Witnesses for Defense at Dayton,” Nashville Banner, 26 June 1925, p. 20.

  79 Bryan, Seven Questions in Dispute, 154; “Bryan Discusses Evolution Case,” Nashville Banner, 2 June 1925, p. 3; Transcript, 172.

  80 “No Such Thing as Evolution, Bryan Declares,” Chattanooga Times, 2 June 1925, p. 1.

  81 W. J. Bryan to W. B. Riley, 27 March 1925, in Bryan Papers; Transcript, 230.

  82 Mencken, “Monkey Trial,” 40 (reprint of 13 July 1925 article).

  83 John T. Scopes, The Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes (New York: Holt, 1967), 78.

  84 Letter from Sue K. Hicks to W. J. Bryan, 23 June 1925, in Hicks Papers.

  85 “Darrow Declares He Is Always Seeking Truth,” Knoxville Journal, 23 June 1925, p. 1; “Glut of Laws Threat Against All Freedom,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 24 June 1925, p. 1; “Scopes Dined Says Fight Is for Liberty,” p. 1; “Drab Views Bared Before Capacity Crowd in Speech,” Knoxville Journal, 24 June 1925, p. 1.

  86 Arthur Garfield Hays, City Lawyer (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1942), 212.

  87 Hicks to Bryan, 23 June 1925; “Drab Views Bared,” p. 1.

  88 James Gibson, “Evolution Stalks State Bar Meeting,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 17 June 1925, p. 1; “Keebler’s Attack on Legislation Is Not Sustained,” Knoxville Journal, 26 June 1925, p. 1.

  89 “$10,000 Defense Fund Is Asked for Scopes; To Be Spent on Case in Lower Courts,” New York Times, 22 June 1925, p. 1.

  90 “Anti-Evolution Act Invasion of Rights—Malone,” Knoxville Journal, 28 June 1925, p. 1.

  91 “Scopes Counsel, Here, Plans for Evolution Case,” Chicago Tribune, 30 June 1925, p. 6.

  92 “Scopes Trial Food for Thought, Colby,” Knoxville Journal, 25 June 1925, p. I.

  93 “Rogers Sidesteps Evolution Trial,” Nashville Banner, 31 May 1925, p. 1.

  94 “Scopes Trial Call Test Free Speech,” Chattanooga Times, 25 June 1925, p. 5; “Malone Pays His Respects to W. J. Bryan,” Chattanooga Times, 26 June 1925, p. 5; “Malone Says Constitution Facing Test,” Chattanooga Times, 27 June 1925, p. 5; “Says Legislature Can’t Make Morals,” Nashville Banner, 28 June 1925, p. 5.

  95 W. B. Marr to Sue and Herbert Hicks, 10 June 1925, in Hicks Papers.

  96 “Dr. Neal Says Renaissance Now Dawning,” Chattanooga Times, 30 June 1925, p. 1; “Scopes Dined Says Fight Is for Liberty,” p. 1.

  97 “Scopes Attorney Fight Dayton Trial,” New York Times, 4 July 1925, p. 2; “Federal Judge Refuses to Take Jurisdiction in Scopes Case; Trial Opens Friday in Dayton,” Chattanooga Times, 7 July 1925, p. 1; Scopes, Center of the Storm, 78-82.

  98 “Federal Judge Refuses,” p. 1.

  99 Mencken, “Monkey Trial,” 44 (reprint Of 15 July 1925 article).

  100 “Broadcast of Scopes Trial Unprecedented,” Chicago Tribune, 5 July 1925, sec. 7, p. 6; Philip Kinsley, “Dayton Raises Curtain Soon,” Nashville Banner, 5 July 1925, p. 6.

  101 Mencken, “Monkey Trial,” 43 (reprint Of 15 July 1925 article). Mason’s activities in Tennessee were discussed in Joe Maxwell, “Building the Church (of God in Christ),” Christianity Today, 8 April 1996, p. 25.

  102 “Dayton Keyed Up for Opening Today of Trial of Scopes,” New York Times, 10 July 1925, p. I.

  103 T. W. Callaway, “Dayton Bootblack Gives Preacher His Definition of Fundamentalism,” Chattanooga Times, 8 July 1925, p. 1.

  104 “Dayton Cheers the Commoner,” Chattanooga Times, 8 July 1925, p. 1.

  105 “Bryan in Dayton, Calls Scopes Trial Duel to the Death,” New York Times, 8 June 1925, p. 1.

  106 “Visitors Come on Every Train,” Nashville Banner, 9 July 1925, p. 3.

  107 W. C. Cross, “Bryan, Noted Orator, in Favor at Dayton,” Knoxville Journal, 10 July 1925, p. 1.

  108 “Bryan Threatens National Campaign to Bar Evolution,” New York Times, 8 July 1925, p. 1.

  109 Philip Kinsley, “Bryan Gets Jump on Defense Lawyers,” Commercial Appeal, 9 July 1925, p. 1.

  110 Transcript, 159.

  111 “Malone Glad Trial Starts on a Friday,” Chattanooga Times, 10 July 1925, p. 2.

  112 Ibid.; Charles Francis Potter, “Ten Years After the Monkey Show I’m Going Back to Dayton,” Liberty, 28 September 1935, p. 36.

  113 Clarence Darrow, The Story of My Life (New York: Grosset, 1932), 251.

  114 “Darrow Loud in His Protest,” Nashville Banner, 8 July 1925, p. 1.

  115 “Dayton Keyed Up,” p. 1; Philip Kinsley, “Invoke Divine Guidance for Evolution Case,” Chattanooga Times, 10 July 1925, p. 1.

  CHAPTER SIX. PRELIMINARY ROUNDS

  1 Sterling Tracy, “No Modernists Named on the Scopes Jury; All Believe in Bible,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 11 July 1925, p. 1.

  2 “Scopes Jury Chosen with Dramatic Speed,” New York Times, II July 1925, p. 1.

  3 “Dayton Disappointed,” Chattanooga Times, 11 July 1925, p. 1.

  4 Clarence Darrow, The Story of My Life (New York: Grosset, 1932), 256.

  5 Arthur Garfield Hays, Let Freedom Ring (New York: Liveright, 1928), 34.

  6 “Scopes Jury Chosen with Dramatic Speed,” 1.

  7 Ibid.; “Quash Indictment but Return New One,” Nashville Banner, 10 July 1925, p. 1.

  8 John T. Scopes, Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes (New York: Holt, 1967), 102-3.

  9 W. J. Bryan to S. K. Hicks, 25 June 1925, in Hicks Papers.

  10 Darrow, My Life, 256.

  11 Scopes, Center of the Storm, 105; Hays, Let Freedom Ring, 76-77; Transcript, 3, 109.

  12 Transcript, 41; Tracy, “No Modernists Named on the Scopes Jury,” 1.

  13 Transcript, 29-36.

  14 Transcript, 13-14; Hays, Let Freedom Ring, 37; Watson Davis, “School of Science for Rhea County,” Chattanooga Times, 11 July 1925, p. 1.

  15 Transcript, 14.

  16 H. L. Mencken, “The Monkey Trial: A Reporter’s Account,” in Jerry D. Tompkins, ed., D-Days at Dayton: Reflections on the Scopes Trial (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1965), 38-39 (reprint of 11 July 1925 article).

  17 Tracy, “No Modernists Named on the Scopes Jury,” 1.

  18 “A Typical Southern Jury,” Pittsburgh American, 17 July 1925, p. 4.

  19 Transcript, 43.

  20 Transcript, 7—9.

  21 Davis, “School of Science for Rhea County,” 1.

  22 Transcript, 43.

  23 Jack Lait, “Scopes Trial Keys Up Dayton,” Nashville Banner, 12 July 1925, p. 1.

  24 “Dayton’s Police Suppress Skeptics,” New York Times, 12 July 1925, p. 1.

  25 Mencken, “Monkey Trial,” 40 (reprint of 13 July 1925 article).

  2
6 Ralph Perry, “‘Loud Speaker’ for the State,” Nashville Banner, 13 July 1925. P. 1.

  27 “Hostility Grows in Dayton Crowd; Champions Clash,” New York Times, 12 July 1925, p. I.

  28 Ibid.

  29 “Dayton’s One Pro-Evolution Pastor Quits as Threat Bars Dr. Potter from Pulpit,” New York Times, 13 July 1925, p. 1. (Article title refers to Howard G. Byrd, pastor of Dayton’s northern Methodist church, who quit after his invitation to let Potter deliver the Sunday sermon was overruled by the congregation.)

  30 “Dayton’s One Pro-Evolution Pastor Quits,” 1.

  31 “Crowds Jam Court to See Champions,” New York Times, 14 July 1925, p. 1.

  32 Darrow, My Life, 259.

  33 Transcript, 45.

  34 Transcript, 50.

  35 Transcript, 55.

  36 Transcript, 56-57; Hays, Let Freedom Ring, 42-43.

  37 “Clash of Attorneys,” Nashville Banner, 13 July 1925, p. 3.

  38 Transcript, 66.

  39 Transcript, 66-68, 73.

  40 “Lively Clashes in Move to Quash Indictment,” Chattanooga Times, 14 July 1925, p. 1.

  41 Darrow, My Life, 259-60.

  42 “Darrow Scores Ignorance and Bigotry Seeking to Quash Scopes Indictment,” New York Times, 14 July 1925, p. 1.

  43 Transcript, 75.

  44 Transcript, 79-84.

  45 Transcript, 77-87.

  46 “Darrow Scores Ignorance and Bigotry,” 1.

  47 Mencken, “Monkey Trial,” 41 (reprint of 14 July 1925 article).

  48 “Darrow Scores Ignorance and Bigotry,” 1.

  49 Philip Kinsley, “Liberty at Stake if Law Stands, Darrow Says,” Chicago Tribune, 14 July 1925, p. 1.

  50 Joseph Wood Krutch, “Darrow vs. Bryan,” Nation, 29 July 1925, p. 136.

  51 Hays, Let Freedom Ring, 46.

  52 “Lively Clashes in Move to Quash Indictment,” 1.

  53 Darrow, My Life, 257.

  54 “Darrow’s Paradise,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 15 July 1925, p. 1.

  55 Mencken, “Monkey Trial,” 41 (reprint of 14 July 1925 article).

  56 Hays, Let Freedom Ring, 41.

  57 Transcript, 89-90.

  58 Transcript, 90-91; “Stormy Scenes in the Trial of Scopes as Darrow Moves to Bar All Prayers,” New York Times, 15 July 1925, p. 1.

  59 Transcript, 92.

  60 Sterling Tracy, “Lawyers Out for Gore When Evolution Trial Starts to Get Rough,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 15 July 1925, p. 1.

  61 Transcript, 93—94; “Weird Adventures of 200 Reporters at Tennessee Evolution Trial,” Editor & Publisher, 18 July 1925, p. 1.

  62 Tracy, “Lawyers Out for Gore,” 1.

  63 Transcript, 97, 98, 102.

  64 Scopes, Center of the Storm, 124.

  CHAPTER SEVEN. THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY

  1 Ralph Perry, “Defense Calls Dr. Metcalf,” Nashville Banner, 16 July 1925, p. 6.

  2 John T. Scopes, Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes (New York: Holt, 1967), 138—39.

  3 “Schoolboy Testimony State’s Program Now,” Chattanooga Times, 14 July 1925, p. 2.

  4 Transcript, 112.

  5 Transcript, 113-16.

  6 Transcript, 113—15.

  7 Sterling Tracy, “Scientific Evidence, Issue in Scopes Case, Is Pondered by Court,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 16 July 1925, p. 1.

  8 H. L. Mencken, “The Monkey Trial: A Reporter’s Account,” in Jerry D. Tompkins, ed., D-Days at Dayton: Reflections on the Scopes Trial (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1965), 44 (reprint of 14 July 1925 article).

  9 Transcript, 121—22.

  10 Transcript, 127.

  11 Transcript, 129-31.

  12 Transcript, 133.

  13 Scopes, Center of the Storm, 136, 188.

  14 Transcript, 138.

  15 Mencken, “Monkey Trial,” 45 (reprint of 7 July 1925 article).

  16 Transcript, 139.

  17 “Darrow Puts First Scientist on Stand to Instruct Scopes Judge on Evolution; State Completes Its Case in One Hour,” New York Times, 16 July 1925, p. I.

  18 Sterling Tracy, “Malone Wins Cheers from Dayton People on Answering Bryan,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 17 July 1925, p. 1.

  19 Transcript, 153.

  20 Transcript, 156-60.

  21 Transcript, 163-64, 166-67, 169; “Prosecution Moves to Exclude Experts,” Nashville Banner, 16 July 1925, p. 1.

  22 Philip Kinsley, “They Call Us Bigots When We Refuse to Throw Away Our Bibles,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 17 July 1925, p. 1 (Chicago Tribune wire story).

  23 Transcript, 170.

  24 Clarence Darrow, The Story of My Life (New York: Grosset, 1932), 263.

  25 Transcript, 170-80.

  26 Transcript, 180-82.

  27 Scopes, Center of the Storm, 147-48.

  28 Transcript, 184-88.

  29 Sterling Tracy, “Malone Wins Cheers from Dayton People on Answering Bryan,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 17 July 1925, p. 1; Arthur Garfield Hays, Let Freedom Ring (New York: Liveright, 1928), 65-66; John Washington Butler, “For Heaven’s Sake!” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 19 July 1925, p. 3; Scopes, Center of the Storm, 154-56.

  30 Transcript, 190-99; Tracy, “Malone Wins Cheers,” 1.

  31 Ralph Perry, “Eventful Hour of Scopes Trial,” Nashville Banner, 17 July 1925, p. 1.

  32 “Bryan Defends Tennessee and Its Law; Calls Evolution Attack on Church; Spirited Debate on Expert Evidence,” New York Times, 17 July 1925, p. 1.

  33 Kinsley, “They Call Us Bigots,” 1.

  34 Transcript, 185.

  35 Transcript, 201-3 (emphasis added); Scopes, Center of the Storm, 158-59; “Judge Shatters the Scopes Defense by Barring Testimony of Scientists; Sharp Clashes as Darrow Defies the Court,” New York Times, 18 July 1925, p. 1.

  36 Transcript, 204-9; Hays, Let Freedom Ring, 67-68.

  37 Transcript, 207-9; Sterling Tracy, “Scientists Excluded, Darrow Spends a Day ‘Strafing’ the Judge,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 18 July 1925, p. 1.

  38 Mencken, “Monkey Trial,” 50 (reprint of 18 July 1925 article).

  39 “Weird Adventures of 200 Reporters at Tennessee Evolution Trial,” Editor & Publisher, 18 July 1925, p. 1.

  40 “Mencken Epithets Raise Dayton’s Ire,” New York Times, 17 July 1925, p. 3.

  41 Charles Francis Potter, “Ten Years After the Monkey Show I’m Going Back to Dayton,” Liberty, 28 September 1935, p. 37.

  42 Bill Perry, “Scopes Defense Facing Defeat,” Nashville Banner, 19 July 1925, p. 1.

  43 “Defense Counsel at Work on Affidavits,” Nashville Banner, 18 July 1925, p. 1; “Bryan’s Statement,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 19 July 1925, p. 1; John Herrick, “Bryan Stirs Up Animus Among Tennessee Folk,” Chicago Tribune, 20 July I925, p. 4.

  44 “Offer of $10,000 to Start Bryan ‘University’ Opens Dayton Campaign for $1,000,000 Fund,” New York Times, 17 July 1925, p. I.

  45 “Darrow’s Statement,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 19 July 1925, p. 1; “Bryan and Darrow Wage War of Words in Trial Interlude,” New York Times, 19 July 1925, p. 1; “Bryan Now Regrets Barring of Experts,” New York Times, 18 July 1925, p. 2.

  46 Herrick, “Bryan Stirs Up Animus,” 1.

  47 “Defense Counsel Make Ready for Final Battle,” Nashville Tennessean, 19 July 1925, p. 1.

  48 Perry, “Scopes Defense Facing Defeat,” 1.

  49 Transcript, 211.

  50 Transcript, 216-80.

  51 Transcript, 225-27.

  52 Scopes, Center of the Storm, 114.

  53 “Bryan, Made Witness in Open Air Court, Shakes His Fist at Darrow Amid Cheers; Apology End Contempt Proceedings,” New York Times, 21 July 1925, p. 1.

  54 “Defense Counsel Make Ready for Final Battle,” 1.

  55 Scopes, Center of the Storm, 166.

  56 Transcript, 288.