Trial of the Century: A look back at the Scopes trial 100 years later
Some called it a circus. The Scopes trial, which ran during an excessively hot Tennessee summer, took place 100 years ago, in July 1925.
Technically, it was a criminal trial against John Thomas Scopes, a 24-year-old high school teacher charged with violating a new law that prohibited teaching evolution in schools. In reality, businessmen of Dayton, Tennessee, thought a high-profile trial in their town would be great for business, and they recruited Scopes. They worked with the American Civil Liberties Union, which was looking for cases to challenge anti-evolution laws. Today, some say the trial illustrated conflicts between traditional and progressive values that continue to exist 100 years later.
Referred to in the press as the trial of the century, more than 150 journalists came to Dayton to cover the 11-day event, which was the first to be broadcast live on the radio. Famed attorney Clarence Darrow represented Scopes while Williams Jennings Bryan prosecuted the case. Outside the courtroom were vendors and thousands of spectators, entertained by preachers and street performers, some of whom used chimpanzees as part of their acts in reference to evolution theories.
