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The Scopes Trial was a pivotal moment that highlighted the tension between religious fundamentalism and scientific fact in 1925 in Tennessee.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Around 100 years ago, a trial over a Tennessee teacher’s lessons on evolution captured the attention of the nation and highlighted a growing tension between religious fundamentalism and scientific fact. The Scopes Trial was one of the first trials broadcast over the radio, originating from a classroom in an East Tennessee town and eventually into the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The University of Tennessee’s Clarence Brown Theatre will host “Inherit the Wind” in honor of the trial’s centennial. The show is set to start on Feb. 12 and will last through March 2. During the show, people will be able to watch a fictional courtroom drama portraying the nuances of the trial.
The show will be directed by Katie Lupica and was written in response to McCarthy-era censorship. It opened on Jan. 11, 1955, in Dallas after its playwrights researched trial transcripts and media coverage and interviewed people involved in the trial.
The showing is also part of the university’s centennial celebration of the trial which includes seminars, exhibits and lectures.
The Scopes Trial marked a moment in United States history when Tennessee sought to pass laws over the material students learned in classrooms. It had passed the Butler Act, which barred public school teachers from teaching evolution or denying the divine creation of man. Soon after the law was passed, the American Civil Liberties Union put out advertisements saying it would pay the expenses of any teacher willing to challenge it.
George W. Rappleyea managed a large company in Dayton, Tennessee, and wanted to put the dwindling town back on the map. So, he helped organize a meeting with civic leaders to recruit a 24-year-old football coach who also taught math and science to challenge the law — John T. Scopes.
The Middle Tennessee State University Free Speech Center said the trial was riddled with ironies, saying it was almost impossible for teachers not to violate the Butler Act. It required them to use a textbook that endorsed evolution in classrooms. It also said Scopes challenged the law and endorsed evolution because of his racist embrace of eugenics.
The trial attracted legendary attorneys William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. Bryan was a prosecutor who opposed teaching evolution because of its association with eugenics, according to the Free Speech Center.
Darrow defended Scopes, bringing his national acclaim as a lawyer who had only lost a single murder defense to East Tennessee.
Ultimately, a judge fined Scopes $100 for teaching evolution in his classroom. The lawsuit was appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court which found the Butler Act was constitutional but said only juries could fine people over $50 — not judges. So, Scopes’ conviction was overturned.
“We see nothing to be gained by prolonging the life of this bizarre case,” the Tennessee Supreme Court said.
The Free Speech Center said years later, in 1968, the United States Supreme Court struck down a similar law from Arkansas and found that it violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment.