In the summer of 1925, a high school biology teacher in Tennessee named John T. Scopes was arrested for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to his students. At the time, Tennessee law required the teaching of divine creation and prohibited Darwin’s scientific explanations.

A newsreel announcer intoned, "The issue was no longer the innocence or guilt of Scopes, but rather the final death struggle between two basic human philosophies. Fundamentalism versus modernism.”

A circus-like atmosphere surrounded the trial. Demonstrators held stuffed monkeys during public demonstrations at the courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee.

The trail attracted two of the most prominent men of the day: Three-time presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan, argued for the prosecution. Defending Scopes wa

See Full Page