What is THE
trial of the century?
1. Today Show call in December 1999.
2. Some contenders:
---Lindbergh Kidnapping Trial of 1935
(Hauptmann)
---Nuremberg Trials (1946-48)
---OJ Simpson Trial (1995)
---Scottsboro Boys Trials
3. The Winner Is: The Scopes "Monkey" Trial of 1925
A. The Time
B. The Cast of Characters
------Clarence Darrow
------William Jennings Bryan
------H. L. Mencken
------Supporting roles (Dudley Malone,
Arthur Garfield Hays, Thomas Stewart)
C. The Drama (Chataqua?)
------Darrow speech
------Bryan speech
------Examination of Bryan by Darrow (New
York Times called
"the most amazing courtroom scene in Anglo-American history")
------Judge Raulston closing
D. The Issues
------Who controls the content of
public education?
------Free speech rights of teachers
------Where did we come from?
Can Science and Religion be Reconciled?
E. Inspired Courtroom
Dramas
------Inherit the Wind (Spencer Tracy as Darrow, Fredric
March as Bryan, and Gene Kelly as Mencken)
F. Stood the Test of Time
-----OJ in 2075?
-----It was a
symbolic struggle for America's
culture between the forces of Traditionalism and the forces of
Modernism.
It was about whether we look for guidance from, as Bryan said "the
faith
of our fathers," or from our own intellects. The Scopes Trial was
about what much of the twentieth century has been about.
SCOPES
TRIAL HOMEPAGE