Four

THE TRIAL OF THE
CENTURY BEGINS

Nothing will satisfy us but for broad victory, a knockout which will . . . prove that America is founded on liberty and not on narrow, mean, intolerable and brainless prejudice of soulless religio-maniacs.

—Clarence Darrow, John Scopes’s defender

As the Scopes Trial approached, civic leaders of Dayton began preparing for what they hoped would be a flood of visitors to their struggling town. Numerous residents rented their homes to visitors (including to trial principals Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan), local hotels increased their fees, and town officials hurriedly built temporary bathrooms, cleaned sidewalks, and mowed lawns to spruce up Dayton. Vendors began stockpiling monkey-related souvenirs and evolution-related books, and religious leaders added services for the faithful.

Chicago radio station WGN made history by sending Quin Ryan—an announcer famous for broadcasts that were advertised as being “almost as good as being there”—to Dayton for the first live national broadcast of a trial in American history. WGN, which spent $1,000 per day on the broadcasts, also used in-court microphones and outdoor speakers to broadcast proceedings to the trial’s overflow crowds. The freshly painted courtroom was even rearranged to accommodate WGN’s microphones atop the station’s four-foot-high wooden stands. (These microphones and transmission wires appear in many of the trial photographs.) Ryan, who was assisted by Dayton youngster Carmack Waterhouse, often sat in a windowsill as his radio station broadcast the trial’s proceedings. Ryan, like Scopes, Darrow, and Bryan, was a celebrity in Dayton during the trial.

Other vendors also prepared for the big event. American Telephone & Telegraph laid more than 10 miles of cable, Western Union added 22 on-site telegraphers, and Southern Railway added extra service to Dayton to meet customers’ demands. More than 150 journalists arrived for the trial (from as far away as Hong Kong) and produced more than two million words of coverage; indeed, more words about the trial were cabled to Europe and Australia than had ever been cabled for any other event. To feed the public’s insatiable appetite for news about Scopes’s trial, several reporters fabricated some of their stories.

Dayton, which had become a media circus, was flooded with a motley assortment of vendors, circus performers, street salvationists, sincere spectators, money-grubbing hucksters, and—as noted by several newspapers—other “cranks and freaks.” When more than 500 visitors showed up for the trial’s opening day, Dayton was ready to cash in on its new fame. The Scopes Trial—which the July 20, 1925 issue of Time magazine would describe as “the fantastic cross between a circus and a holy war”—was ready to begin.

Although Scopes’s trial included eight days of proceedings, the jury was in the courtroom for only about three hours during the entire trial. This photograph shows the jury on the courthouse lawn, where jurors spent much of their time while lawyers in the courtroom debated procedural issues associated with Scopes’s trial. (BC.)

John Scopes’s 65-year-old father, Thomas Scopes (right), came from Paducah, Kentucky, to Dayton to support his son. The elder Scopes, who was a railroad machinist and union activist, believed that the upcoming trial was his son’s chance to serve his country. This photograph shows father and son sitting on the porch of the Chattanooga News Newspaper Club. (RCHGS.)

Rev. Howard Byrd (right) pastored two churches in Dayton—First Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church and Five Points Methodist Episcopal Church. When the 35-year-old Byrd, who led a prayer at Scopes’s first hearing on May 25, invited pro-evolution preacher Charles Francis Potter—pastor of New York’s West Side Unitarian Church—to speak about evolution at his First Avenue church on July 12, his congregation was enraged. Potter, a former fundamentalist, was a vocal opponent of Bryan and expected to testify for the defense, but instead became a freelance writer at the trial. Just before the Scopes Trial started, trial instigator George Rappleyea (left)—a member of Byrd’s Five Points church—credited Byrd as being the “inspiration” for the trial. (UTK.)

The image above shows, from left to right, George Rappleyea, Methodist preacher Howard Byrd, and Unitarian preacher Charles Potter in front of Dayton’s First Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, where Byrd was pastor. Byrd wanted both sides of the evolution controversy to be heard by his congregation during the trial. When he invited Potter to preach at his church, his congregation threatened a boycott and demanded that Byrd rescind the invitation. Byrd refused, instead proclaiming, “I have quit. I have not resigned; I have quit.” The image below shows, from left to right, Unitarian minister Leon Birkhead (who came to Dayton from Kansas City to help the defense), Howard Byrd, George Rappleyea, an unidentified man holding Byrd’s son John, Frank Thone (of the Science Service), and Charles Potter holding Byrd’s daughter Lilian. (Above, SI Image No. 2008-1096; below, SI Image No. 2008-1095.)

Edwin Emery Slosson (right) was a selfdescribed science “renegade” who in 1921 became the first director of the newly founded Science Service, a nonprofit organization devoted to popularizing science by marketing syndicated articles to magazines and newspapers. Slosson chose 29-year-old managing editor Watson Davis to lead Science Service’s coverage of the Scopes Trial. (SI Image No. 2007-0014.)

In Dayton, Watson Davis (left) worked as a journalist, but he also helped the defense team choose its expert witnesses. On July 17, Davis declared himself part of the “scientific group”; he also arranged for all of the scientists to sign a letter endorsing Darrow’s “ability, high purpose, integrity, moral sensitiveness, and idealism.” At the trial, Davis sat by H.L. Mencken, immediately behind John Scopes and the defense team. Davis later helped start the Westinghouse Science Talent Search and was a founding member of the National Association of Science Writers. (SI Image No. 2016-0428.)

Darrow and his wife, Ruby, stayed at the home of Luther Morgan, which they rented for $500 for “however long the trial lasts.” Luther’s son, 14-year-old Howard “Scrappy” Morgan, was the first of Scopes’s students to testify at Scopes’s trial. When asked by Clarence Darrow if learning about evolution had “hurt you any” or caused him to leave the church, the young Morgan responded, “No, sir.” (Richard Cornelius.)

While street preachers met the crowd’s spiritual needs, temporary bathrooms such as these—both “For Ladies”—behind the courthouse helped Dayton residents meet the sanitary challenges posed by the crowds. Wild-eyed antievolution crusader T.T. Martin adorned these and other sites in Dayton with signs urging people to “Read Your Bible.” (BC.)

In this photograph, John Scopes (left) walks by one of T.T. Martin’s “Read Your Bible” signs with his attorney John Neal (center) and trial instigator George Rappleyea. Other signs posted throughout Dayton proclaimed: “You Need God in Your Business,” “God is Love,” and “Where Will You Spend Eternity?” During Scopes’s trial, the defense team objected to the “Read Your Bible” signs, as they did to the prayers that opened each session of court. (BC.)

Emanuel “E.” Haldeman-Julius was a socialist, atheist, and publisher who arrived in Dayton on July 10 after driving hundreds of miles with his wife, Anna Marcet, to witness the Scopes Trial. Haldeman-Julius published hundreds of titles in the Little Blue Book series discussing topics such as science, sex, politics, and religion (which he describes as “bunk”). The books sold briskly in Dayton during the trial. During proceedings, Bryan cited one of HaldemanJulius’s books that describes Darrow’s defense of thrill killers Leopold and Loeb. The photograph at left shows Haldeman-Julius in front of the “Mansion” where defense witnesses stayed. (SI Image No. 2008-1092.)

This Little Blue Book published by Haldeman-Julius documents Darrow’s questioning of Bryan at the Scopes Trial. At the time of his death in 1951, Haldeman-Julius had published more titles and volumes than any other company in the world. (William McComas.)

Outside the courthouse, one of the most popular attractions during the Scopes Trial was Joe Mendi, a chimpanzee brought to Dayton for “monkey business” by circus owner Lew Backenstoe. People paid 25¢ to shake Joe’s hand. Mendi was billed as “The $100,000 Chimpanzee with the Intelligence of a Five-Year Old.” Although this entry in a Dayton scrapbook claims that Joe died during the second week of Scopes’ trial, Joe—who was insured for $100,000—did not die until 1930. Before and after the Scopes Trial, attendance at zoos through Tennessee increased as visitors flocked to see monkeys and apes. (BC.)

Joe made several appearances throughout Dayton during the Scopes Trial. In this photograph, Joe gives a piano concert for Clark Robinson (F.E. Robinson’s wife) and some students. After the Scopes Trial, Joe’s handlers often reminded crowds that Joe was at Dayton, where “he was asked to appear, but he did not testify.” (BC.)

During the Scopes Trial, Dayton’s merchants sold a variety of books, pennants, and monkey-related products and souvenirs. The items most popular with girls and women were monkey dolls wearing liberty caps. This photograph was taken during the trial near the courthouse. (UTK.)

In this street scene during the Scopes Trial, Marguerite Purser (left) and Andrewena Robinson (daughter of F.E. Robinson) pose with their dolls. Both Purser and Robinson were friends of John Scopes’s. (BC.)

In early April, Rhea County clerk E.B. Ewing ordered Rhea County sheriff Robert Harris to summon five of John Scopes’s students—Howard Morgan, James Benson, Morris Stout, Traynor Hutcheson, and Jack Hudson—to appear in court on July 10, the opening day of the Scopes Trial. Of these students, only Morgan eventually testified at the trial. (UTK.)

The Scopes Trial was the first trial in US history to be broadcast live nationwide on the radio. In this scene from court proceedings (above), the microphone of Chicago’s WGN radio station is prominent in the left foreground. Standing to the right of the microphone are prosecutors Wallace Haggard (with face blurred), Herbert Hicks, and defense attorney Dudley Field Malone (in coat with arms folded). WGN’s coverage in Dayton was headed by Quin Ryan. During Scopes’s trial, Ryan—a celebrity in Dayton because of the new technology that accompanied him—stayed in F.E. Robinson’s home. One of the four original WGN microphones (left) can be seen today at Bryan College. (Above, BC; left, William McComas.)

On the fourth day of proceedings, Clarence Darrow (left, coatless) addressed the jury, which is seated directly in front of him. In the left foreground, with his back to the camera, Dudley Malone sits by a WGN microphone. (BC.)

Many parts of the Scopes Trial’s proceedings were tedious. In this photograph, William Jennings Bryan (just right of center) yawns as he fans himself to stay cool. To the left of Bryan are Sue Hicks, Herbert Hicks (partially obscured), Ben McKenzie (with his left hand to his head), Wallace Haggard, and Gordon McKenzie. In the lower right corner is lead prosecutor Thomas Stewart. (BC.)

After having been largely silent for the first four days of proceedings, William Jennings Bryan (left, standing) rose to speak on Thursday, July 16. Bryan stated his support for Tennessee’s antievolution law, criticized evolution because it undermines religion, denounced Darrow, and claimed that Scopes’s student Howard Morgan understood the issues better than did Darrow. Seated to Bryan’s left is Ben McKenzie, and in the right foreground is his son, Gordon McKenzie. Between the McKenzies is a WGN microphone. (UTK.)

On the fourth day of proceedings, Scopes was arraigned, after which chief counsel John Neal (standing with coat on) entered Scopes’s plea: not guilty. Darrow is seated to the right of Neal, and Malone is seated to the left; John Scopes (in a white shirt and holding his head in his hand) is seated three people to the left of Neal. After entering Scopes’s plea, the prosecution called its first witness: Rhea County school superintendent Walter White. The prosecution’s case against Scopes lasted for less than two hours. (BC.)

The sixth day of the trial produced a heated exchange between Clarence Darrow (left) and Judge Raulston (right), which led to Raulston finding Darrow in contempt of court. When court reconvened, Darrow apologized, after which Raulston gave a religious speech in which he forgave Darrow. Raulston, who believed that the teaching of evolution would produce “mental stupidity and spiritual degeneracy,” supported the Butler Act throughout his life. (BC.)

In this scene from court proceedings, Judge Raulston (left, with back to camera) addresses prosecutor Thomas Stewart (near center facing camera, with coat open) and defender Dudley Malone (by Stewart, with arms folded). Over Stewart’s right shoulder are, from left to right, prosecutors Herbert Hicks and William Jennings Bryan, and to the left of Malone is Clarence Darrow (partly obscured). (BC.)

William Jennings Bryan (left) said relatively little during the first few days of proceedings, but he would not remain silent for long. Here, Bryan and Judge John Raulston chat one morning before court convened. (BC.)

In this scene from the first week of the trial, William Jennings Bryan (center left) leans over the table to talk with Clarence Darrow. Note that the jurors’ chairs (right center) are empty, as they were for most of Scopes’s famous trial. (UTK.)

During the Scopes Trial, Tennessee experienced one of its hottest summers on record. In this photograph, taken during a break on the trial’s fourth day of proceedings, William Jennings Bryan cools off with a drink of water in the courtroom. During the trial’s noon recess, WGN’s Quin Ryan often aired interviews and “special speeches” by Bryan, George Rappleyea, John Scopes, F.E. Robinson, Judge John Raulston, and other people associated with the trial. (BC.)

Defendant John Scopes’s contract at Rhea Central High School ended on May 1, 1925, but he stayed in Dayton because two of his students had been in a car accident, as well as to pursue “a beautiful blonde [he] had somehow previously overlooked.” In this photograph, Scopes poses by one of the many “Read Your Bible” signs that were posted by evangelist T.T. Martin throughout Dayton during the trial. (UTK.)

During Scopes’s trial, the trial’s participants were often seen throughout town. In the photograph at right, defense attorney Arthur Garfield Hays (right, in white jacket and pants) chats with prosecuting attorney Herbert Hicks while defense lawyer Clarence Darrow, looking down and wearing suspenders, walks behind them. The Scopes Trial was Hays’s first case with Darrow. (BC.)

On July 20, Judge Raulston held Clarence Darrow in contempt of court for Darrow’s comments the previous week suggesting that Raulston favored the prosecution. When Darrow (far right, in suspenders) apologized, Raulston forgave Darrow, and they shook hands. Other attorneys shown here include Bryan (center, in white shirt with bow tie), Tom Stewart (partially obscured and to Bryan’s right), Dudley Malone (behind WGN microphone), and Wallace Haggard (behind Malone with bow tie and cigar). (BC.)

Defense attorneys, expert witnesses, and journalists met most evenings at the “Mansion” to hear informal seminars and discuss the trial and strategy. This photograph shows, from left to right, an unidentified man, Frank Thone of the Science Service, biologist William A. Kepner from the University of Virginia, George Rappleyea, expert witness Tennessee geologist Wilbur Nelson, Watson Davis of the Science Service (barely visible), Charles Francis Potter, and Rabbi Herman Rosenwasser from San Francisco. The group on the right includes, from left to right, Arthur Garfield Hays, John Neal, John Scopes, and Dudley Field Malone. The chart between Hays and Rosenwasser is a scroll of a Hebrew translation of Genesis. Rosenwasser testified (via a statement read into the record by Hays) that other versions of the Bible—if translated accurately from the original Hebrew text—support evolution. Rosenwasser’s testimony surprised many people at the trial, who did not know that the King James Version is not the only version of the Bible. (BC.)