In Scopes’s words

In Scopes’s words

From his book, Center of the Storm

In a future class, it might be worth adding Scopes's book to the reading list since he was the man at the center of the storm. The student could discuss and learn what he thought about the proceedings and his role. Here is a quote from the book.

“The cause defended at Dayton is a continuing one that has existed throughout man’s brief history and will continue as long as man is here. It is the cause of freedom, for which each man must do what he can. I did little more than sit, proxy like, in freedom’s chair that hot, unforgettable summer—no great feat, despite the notoriety it has brought me. My role was a passive one that developed out of my willingness to test what I considered a bad law. I felt that others did more than I; if men like Clarence Darrow had not come to my aid and had not dramatized the case to a responsive world, freedom would have lost.

Darrow would have said I had no choice but to stand trial at Dayton and he would have started his proof at least with my parents, or as far back as he could go. I had been taught from childhood to stand up for what I thought was right and I did not think the state of Tennessee had any right to keep me from teaching the truth. So, I was willing to test the law’s constitutionality. If the result has served freedom, then I must give much of the credit to my own parents and to a tolerant environment that taught me early in life to revere truth and love and courage.”