Photos from the Scopes "monkey" trial on Flickr

[scarlettina]

It was, I think, in junior high school when I first read "Inherit the Wind," the play based upon the Scopes "monkey" trial -- the first time that the teaching of evolution in schools was challenged. William Jennings Bryan was the lawyer for the prosecution, arguing against the teaching of evolution; Clarence Darrow spoke for the defense. I didn't see the film based on the play until years and years later. But there was a period of time when I read that script over and over again until I could recite some of the speeches verbatim. I remember being astonished by some of the ideas in it, being totally taken with how Drummond argues his case for teaching evolution. I probably still have a copy of the script somewhere in the house.

This morning, while perusing BoingBoing, I learned that the Smithsonian has uncovered photographs from the original trial, including pictures of the town, some of the key players and a few of the trial itself featuring Darrow and Bryan. It's fascinating stuff. I am struck by just how small a town Dayton, Tennessee really was, how bone-thin many of the people in the pictures are, how much like a frontier town Dayton looks. It adds flesh to the story I found so fascinating as a kid, and makes it feel familiar, tangible.

Remarkable what photographs can do.

Comments

[e-bourne.livejournal.com]

That is fascinating. So easy to forget how different times were.