Les Jones

Travel > Hwy 27, Part 1: Dayton, Tennessee

Tuesday was the last day of my five day vacation. Jay and I used the opportunity to get in a hike and visit Dayton, Tennessee, the setting for the Scopes monkey trial. The trial was the test case for the Butler Act, passed just four months earlier by the state legislature. The Butlet Act banned the teaching of evolution in public schools, and in particular teaching that man descended from lower orders of animals. A local school teacher named John Scopes agreed to be the test case, though it's doubtful he ever actually taught evolution.

The American Civil Liberties Union had offered to defend anyone accused of teaching evolution in defiance of the law. A group of businessmen in Dayton, Tennessee, then a town of 1,800, thought that the controversy of such a trial would put Dayton on the map. They approached 24-year old John T. Scopes, who was the high school's football coach and who had substituted for the principal in a science class. Scopes pointed out that while the Butler Act prohibited the teaching of evolution, the state required teachers to use a textbook, in this case Hunter's Civic Biology, which explicitly taught evolution. Scopes argued that teachers were essentially required to break the law. When asked about the test case Scopes told the group gathered in Robinson's Drugstore, "If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as a defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial."

Dayton is about an hour from Knoxville. We arranged our schedule so we could eat in the city. After a quick automobile reconnoiter through downtown and peeking in a couple of restaurant windows, we decided that the locals were going to Jacob Myer's Deli, so that's where we went. The food was good, and we struck up a conversation with the folks at the next table and asked where we could find something about the Scopes trial. It turned out they weren't locals - they were insurance agents from Knoxville in town to meet clients. Still, the woman recalled that the courthouse had a Scopes display of some sort.

 

Rhea County's current courthouse is the same one that was the setting for the Scopes trial in 1925 when Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan argued their cases. There was a farmer's market in the courthouse parking lot the day we were there.

 

Inside the courthouse lobby, there are watercolor paintings depicting houses and landmarks in the area. Take the elevator to the basement for the free Scopes trial museum. We were impressed with the museum. It was professionally done, with photographs and relics from the era, a collection of fiction and non-fiction books relating to the case, and informative displays about the major personalities and events.

 

One thing I learned at the musuem is what happened to Scopes after the trail. He decided his teaching career was over, returned to college, and earned a degree in geology. He subsequently worked as a field geologist in the United States and Venezuala.

According to a museum display, the plan for staging a test case to challenge the Butler Act was made in Robinson's drugstore. One display showed a Robinson's promotional fan given out to courthouse viewers. I like old drugstores anyway and had already photographed Roger's drugstore when we parked, so we decided to find Robinson's.

We asked a guard upstairs where to find Robinson's drugstore, and were told to go around the corner and past the bank. The guard must have been a long-time resident, because the bank was a former bank. We had already made it out as a former bank earlier in the day because of the architecture and the filled-in night deposit drop. As the guard had told us, Robinson's drugstore is no longer there. According to Mr. Holt at Holt's Barber Shop, it was right across the street from his shop in what's now The Gathering Place antique store. Mr. Holt was a nice guy. Jay got a haircut while we were there.

 

Roger's and Robinson's are out of business, but both had Rexall signs in their day. Those signs were everywhere at one time, especially in smaller towns. I used to think that Rexall was a drugstore chain, like Revco and Eckerd's. Then I read Vince Staten's Do Pharmacists Sell Farms?, a history of the American drugstore and drugstore products. Rexall manufactured brushes, combs, vitamins, herbal remedies, and other pharmacy staples. They had a co-marketing program and would help drugstores buy signs if they included the Rexall logo. In that way Rexall drugstore signs are similar to the Coca-Cola and Pepsi signs you see on old diners and markets. Rexall isn't the giant they used to be, but they're still in business as Rexall Sundown.

The Scopes trial was in 1925, between July 10th and 25th. The 80th anniversary is in less than two weeks. There's a Scopes walk planned for Friday, July 15th. Downtown businesses will be open late, and there'll be a free showing of Old Yeller. (Why Old Yeller? Beats me.)

Discovering the Scopes trial got us through about 2:00 pm. Tomorrow: part 2, our hiking trip to Stinging Fork Pocket Wilderness in Spring City. LATER: Part 2 posted here.