Trials of the Monkey: An Accidental Memoir by Matthew Chapman is an excellent read on the subject. He's a great-great grandson of Charles Darwin. The book is one part historical recollection of the event and one part journey he makes to a more modern-day Dayton, TN.
My family is from Rhea County and many still live in the Dayton area. They still have a "Monkey Days" festival there every summer complete with parade. Lots of bananas. They celebrate it as a victory over evolution and evil.
Bryan College is there, and it's ridiculous. Named for William Bryan, it continues to churn out indoctrinated youth every year. The education you get from the place should be suspect to anyone who is not trying to be a preacher.
Of course not everyone in Dayton are bad; The town is just seriously depressed economically, socially, and intellectually. There are a dozen Daytons in every state, no matter how progressive and blue they are. It should remind us of our shared past, how much still needs to be done for the good of humanity, and just how difficult true ignorance can be to root out and repair.
Antknee2099 t1_ja8lsel wrote
Reply to TIL John Scopes, a high school teacher in Tennessee, was arrested and tried for merely teaching the theory of evolution in 1925. by JesusLikesHisCheezIt
Trials of the Monkey: An Accidental Memoir by Matthew Chapman is an excellent read on the subject. He's a great-great grandson of Charles Darwin. The book is one part historical recollection of the event and one part journey he makes to a more modern-day Dayton, TN.
My family is from Rhea County and many still live in the Dayton area. They still have a "Monkey Days" festival there every summer complete with parade. Lots of bananas. They celebrate it as a victory over evolution and evil.
Bryan College is there, and it's ridiculous. Named for William Bryan, it continues to churn out indoctrinated youth every year. The education you get from the place should be suspect to anyone who is not trying to be a preacher.
Of course not everyone in Dayton are bad; The town is just seriously depressed economically, socially, and intellectually. There are a dozen Daytons in every state, no matter how progressive and blue they are. It should remind us of our shared past, how much still needs to be done for the good of humanity, and just how difficult true ignorance can be to root out and repair.