This year, the Law Library and Riesenfeld Center will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Scopes "Monkey" Trial, a contest that remains one of the most storied courtroom dramas in American history. Dubbed at the time "the trial of the century," the case drew intense national attention and its legacy is still felt today. The trial pitted a Tennessee law that prohibited the public school teaching of Darwinian evolution against the First Amendment. The legal battle involved several of the most famous lawyers and political figures of the day, including Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, prominent heavyweights who provided counsel to the defense and prosecution, respectively. At the center of the trial was the young high school teacher, John T. Scopes, who was willing to be indicted for violating the law and test the constitutional issues that it raised.
The eight days of trial, in the sweltering July heat of Dayton, Tennessee, resulted in victory for the prosecution. Although Scopes was convicted of a misdemeanor in Rhea County court (later overturned on a technicality in the state's Supreme Court), the storm created by the trial brought the influence of literalist interpretations of the Bible into sharp focus, while stimulating scientists and others to argue more vocally on behalf of scientific values. For the attorneys on the prosecution and defense, the trial also provided a spotlight for extraordinary tactical skills and courtroom oratory.
Among the lawyers who shaped the trial, Clarence Darrow occupies a special place at the University of Minnesota Law Library and Riesenfeld Center, which holds more than 1,000 letters to and from the legendary defense attorney, as well as case materials, speeches, writings and other material about Darrow's life and career. The Darrow Collection at the Riesenfeld Center, and the Darrow Digital Collection showcasing these holdings, provides a rich trove of letters, books, and printed debates related to the Scopes Trial, together with briefs from Scopes's appeal case, expert witness statements, and many other treasures from the Center's collections.
Beyond documents and publications related to the case, the exhibit will also feature items produced by the national media frenzy surrounding it. Humorous cartoons flooded newspapers and often mocked the anti-evolutionist cause, though also skewered the reductionism of evolution. In the cartoon by H. T. Webster (1885-1952), from Life Magazine, Bryan is lampooned for his denials of Darwinism. In another cartoon, Webster satirized a “fan” letter castigating his portrayals of evolution. His cartoons portraying the anxieties of modern life were popular in the early to mid-20th century, and he was known for several syndicated comics appearing across the country.
Popular music was another beneficiary of the Scopes Trial. The 1920s shellac record, pictured here, features “The John T. Scopes Trial” by Vernon Dalhart (1883-1953) with the refrain, “the old religion’s better after all.” Dalhart was one of country music’s first major recording artists, who recorded on Thomas Edison’s label. His music, featuring vivid storytelling, marked the beginning of country music's commercial rise in the 1920s, drawing on folk and bluegrass traditions. In similar fashion, Billy Rose and Clarence Gaskill’s “You Can’t Make a Monkey Out of Me” (1925), made light of Darwinism with lines like: “there's no chimpanzee in my pedigree, and you can't make a monkey of me.” The songs took to the airwaves and could be sung at school and religious gatherings.
Viewers will be invited to explore the background and context that produced the trial, the important legal issues that it raised, and the arguments, strategies, and responses that played out in the courtroom. In addition, the exhibit will treat some of the interesting cultural legacy of the trial, discovered in everything from theatrical and cinematic adaptations, to cases that continue to raise questions concerning the role of religion in public education.
- Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections
