JUNE 26, 1925—THIS DAY IN SCOPES HISTORY

Tennessee Governor Austin Peay informs Walter White that he’ll not testify at the Scopes Trial because “I know no fact which could conceivably be useful to either side in that suit as a witness. It is about as simple a proposition as could be stated, and the great hurrah about it is unnecessary and unfortunate. The statute… is entirely constitutional. We have the right to say through our law-making body that the faith and religion of our children shall not be destroyed by teachers who poison their minds with stuff that no science has established and which belongs in no reputable textbook. Tennessee needs no sympathy or commiseration. Our state has taken a great and forward position which deserves and will certainly receive in due time the admiration and appreciation of the Christian world. I have a profound contempt for those who are throwing slurs at Tennessee for having this law. In my judgment, any state had better dispense with its schools than with its Bible. We are keeping both.”

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.