Reframing Scopes

About this book

"Historian Marcel LaFollette was combing through unprocessed records at the Smithsonian when she found a cache of more than sixty never-before-published photographs taken at the Scopes trial. Her research on these photos sheds new light on the proceedings, as well as on the journalists and scientists who gathered for this epic confrontation between science and tradition." "Deftly integrating text and illustrations, LaFollette takes readers behind the scenes to witness the trial from the perspective of science writers Watson Davis and Frank Thone, who had come to cover the trial but became informal liaisons between defense attorneys and the scientific community. The two journalist-photographers observed visitors and events and even befriended John Scopes in the years following the trial. Their impressions offer new views of Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan and reveal the role of fascinating characters like George Washington Rappleyea, the cocky promoter who saw the trial as a way to bring publicity, tourists, and new business to Dayton."--BOOK JACKET.