A hundred years ago, a trial was held in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee. John Scopes, a substitute high school teacher, was in the dock, accused of violating Tennessee’s new law prohibiting teaching any theory of the origin of man that was contrary to Genesis.
The trial captivated the nation, as two of the titans of early 20th century America—Clarence Darrow for the defense, and William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution—squared off against one another, in an epic confrontation of evolution versus creationism, of science versus religion, of reason versus superstition.
In July 2025, Dayton celebrated the centennial of the trial that put the town on the map. We were there to see what they had to say. The Scopes Trial: 100 Years Later shows what we found, and what we think was the real legacy of the Scopes trial.
