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The Scopes Trial: A Photographic History |
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The Scopes Trial: A Photographic History
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by Edward Caudill, Edward J. Larson, and Jesse Fox Mayshark
Sales Rank: 778118
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List Price: $19.95
$19.95
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on 6-17-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 88 pages
Published by: University of Tennessee PressEdition: 1st Edition June 2000
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1572330813
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1572330818
Book Dimensions:
9.9 x 7.9 x 0.2 inches
Weighs: 11.2 ounces
From Library Journal
On the 75th anniversary of the Scopes trial, Caudill (Univ. of Tennessee) and Larson (Univ. of Georgia) have surrounded fascinating photographs of the trial with excellent, accessible essays on its history and aftermath. Caudill shows that Tennessee's Butler Act, which outlawed the teaching of evolution in the state's public schools, was passed to appease conservative constituents. With a nominal fine as its punishment, it was not intended as a major law. However, the town of Dayton, TN, desperate for an economic boost, used a contrived violation of the law to promote itself. The book does an great job of placing the trial in context and illuminating the personalities of Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. The endnotes reference the major works on the trial for further research. The photographs and captions alone are worth the price, showing how the news coverage of the trial transformed a town and shamed a state. Larson's afterword demonstrates that religious fundamentalists and the American Civil Liberties Union both gained from the trial. The facts are more complex, he argues, than shown in the play/movie Inherit the Wind. Highly recommended for all collections.DHarry Charles, Attorney at Law, St. Louis
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reader Reviews
When I was in high school I read L. Sprague de Camp's account of "The Great Monkey Trial," became enamored of H. L. Mencken, and was fascinated with Dudley Field Malone's speech in Dayton. My interest in the Scopes Trial was such that eventually I used it as my dissertation topic. Since that time I have continued to collect materials about the trial and have followed contemporary versions of the 1925 battle between science and religion with quite some interest. It is certainly nice to have such an extension collection of photographs from the trial, especially since I have not seen most of the 38 shots. For me the best of the "new" photographs is of Rabbi Herman Rosennasser delivering a mock class in biblical translation. Having heard of the rabbi's fascinating translation of Genesis from Hebrew into German and then into English to make its meaning compatible with the theory of evolution. Except for shots of the monkeys that were brought to Dayton, all of the photographs are full page shots covering all of the major players and the fun both inside and outside of the Rhea County Courthouse. There seems to have been a concerted effort not to include a lot of the traditional shots (e.g., Judge Raulston and the jury posing outside the courthouse). The introduction by Edward Caudill, author of "Darwinian Myths: The Legends and Misues of a Theory" provides a 20-page of the drama in Dayton that covers the passage of the Butler Act, the ACLU's decision to intervene, the defense putting Bryan on trial and the legacy of the case. It is a concise coverage of the multi-faceted trial, certainly superior to the mostly erroneous treatments found in so many reference books that confuse the play/film "Inherit the Wind" with the actual trial. Jesse Fox Mayshark, a senior editor of a Knoxville weekly newspaper, provides an afterword "Seventy-five Years of Scopes" that provides some nice insights into what the trial has meant to the State of Tennessee. Since the volume is published by the University of Tennessee Press this is not particularly suprising, but it is a topic that has been pretty much dismissed in the past and I found it quite interesting. What I really liked were the photo captions provided by Edward J. Larson, who won the 1998 Pulitizer prize for history for his book on the Scopes Trial, "Summer for the Gods." Whereas Caudill provides the groundwork for the photographs, Larson provides the detail work. Certainly it would be worth your while to have read Larson's book before you go through these photographs. The more you know about the Scopes Trial the more you will appreciate what you are seeing and reading in this photographic history. Personally I would have liked to have seen portraits of my hero Malone and A. T. Stewart, the true head of the prosecution in Dayton, because the importance of those two men in the trial is always underplayed in the literature. The most glaring photographic ommissions of course would be the celebrated cross-examination of William Jennings Bryan by Clarence Darrow that took place on a platform on the courthouse lawn. I have seen a half-dozen photographs of this infamous confrontation and am surprised one is not included. But since the photos came from the collections of W.C. Robinson (he ran the drug store in Dayton where the plan for the trial was hatched) and Sue K. Hicks, I have to temper my disappointment. Overall this is certainly a first class presentation of a collection of photographs.
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The Scopes Trial: A Photographic History
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