May 1, 1925—THIS DAY IN SCOPES HISTORY

Last Updated 4/28/2025


After a “good though hardly remarkable first year,” John Scopes’s contract ends at RCHS, but he stays in town to help two students injured in a car accident and to pursue “a beautiful blond I had somehow previously overlooked.” (That “beautiful blond” was going to auction a box of fried chicken at an upcoming church social, and John wanted to be there to place a bid.)

Years later, although Scopes could no longer recall her name, Scopes admitted that the “beautiful blonde” deserved “as much credit as anyone for the trial being held in Dayton that summer.

This information is taken from “Causes Go On Forever…: A Chronology of the Scopes Trial,” by Randy Moore and Tom Davis. Copies of the book are available from the Rhea County Historical Society, P.O. Box 31, Dayton, TN 37321. Cost is $25.


Rex and the Ramblers take the courthouse stage Friday nightRex and the Ramblers will kick off Nokian Tyres Summer Nights eighth-annual concert series on June 5. The East Tennessee trio consists o...
Nokian Tyres Summer Nights kick off June 5June 5—Rex and the Ramblers June 12—Ed Beavers June 19—Michael Seabolt Band June 26—Wilson and Cross The Rhea Heritage Preservation Foun...
THIS MONTH IN SCOPES TRIAL HISTORYJune 1925 Dayton Progressive Club member Walter Nixon reopens Hotel Dayton in anticipation of the crowds that he hopes will visit Dayton...
‘You Can’t Make a Monkey Out of Me’: Music of the Scopes... “You Can’t Make a Monkey Out of Me” is the title of one song written about the Scopes Trial, making fun of that serious legal case in 19...
Rex and the Ramblers kick off concert series
Jun 05, 2026
6:30 PM EDT
1475 Market Street
Dayton, TN 37321
Read More 
Eddie Beavers takes the stage June 12
Jun 12, 2026
6:30 PM EDT
1475 Market Street
Dayton, TN 37321
Read More 
Michael Seabolt Band rocks the courthouse June 19
Jun 19, 2026
6:30 PM EDT
1475 Market Street
Dayton, TN 37321
Read More 
Wilson and Cross closes out summer concert series June 26
Jun 26, 2026
6:30 PM EDT
1475 Market Street
Dayton, TN 37321
Read More 

Thank You to our Sponsors!