I posted earlier about the Scopes Trial. But what about the famous play "Inherit the Wind?" The authors Jerome Lawerence and Robert E. Lee stated in the preface to the play ...
"Inherit the Wind is not history... Only a handful of phrases have been taken from the actual transcript of the famous Scopes Trial. Some of the characters of the play are related to the colorful figures in that battle of giants; but they have life and language of their own- and therefore, names of their own... So 'Inherit the Wind' does not pretend to be journalism. It is theatre. It is not 1925." Lawrence and Lee
- The trial originated not in Dayton but in New York offices of the ACLU.
- When a group of Dayton leaders decided to take advantage of the ACLU's offer, it was not in defense of religion, but to boost the economy of a small town that was suffering the coming Great Depression.
- John T. Scopes was not a martyr for academic freedom. Primarily a coach of three sports, he taught math, physics, chemistry, and general science. He agreed to help test the law even though he could not remember ever teaching evolution, having only briefly substituted in biology.
- William Jennings Bryan was not out to get Scopes. Bryan thought the law was a poor one because it involved fining an educator, and he offered to pay Scopes' fine if he needed the money.
- Bryan was familiar with Darwin's works, and he was not against teaching evolution- if it was presented as a theory, and if other major options, such as creationism, were taught.
- The topic of sex and sin did not come up in the trial. Neither did Bryan believe the world was created in 4004.
- Bryan did not have a fit while delivering his last speech and die shortly afterward in the courtroom. Taken from R.M. Cornelius' writings on The Scopes Trial and official court transcripts
There's more... but that's enough for now. If you are interested in knowing the truth, check out http://www.bryan.edu/historical_materials.html
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