100 years ago this month, a trial was underway in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee. It was a showdown between two distinctively different worldviews — the scientific community and its belief in the theory of evolution and the fundamentalist Christian community and its belief in creationism.
At the center of the trial was John Scopes, a young science teacher who had included a reference to evolution in his classroom. He was soon found guilty of violating the Butler Act, a law that banned the teaching of any theory saying humanity descended from a “lower order of animal."
The "Scopes Monkey Trial" as it was called, was seen as a seminal moment in the clash between church and state. Figures like Clarence Darrow of the American Civil Liberties Union, and former Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan were involved, raising the profile of the trial.
Monday on the "Sound of Ideas," we'll look back at the Scopes trial a century later. What can we glean from that moment in American history, and how has it shaped the continuous fight over what can taught in the classroom?
Later in the hour, we'll take a trip back through Cleveland history with archivist Tom Kaschalk. He has a new book that looks through the city's history through a sudsy pint glass and Cleveland's neighborhood taverns.
Guests:
- Brenda Wineapple, Historian and Author, "Keeping The Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation"
- Owen Lovejoy, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Kent State University (Phone
- Tom Kaschalk, Author, "Cleveland Neighborhood Taverns: A Pub Crawl Through History"
- Jeannie Emser Schultz, Former Director of Marketing, Front Row Theater; Author "As The Stage Turned"
- Kabir Bhatia, Senior Arts Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
