Ed Larson presents "The Legend and Legacy of the Scopes Trial" -- Williams College

April 17, 2017 | By Kylie Larkin -- Professor Edward J. Larson presented "The Legend and Legacy of the Scopes Trial" as the Phi Beta Kappa Sterling Speaker at Williams College.  The lecture, held on April 28, followed a special screening of the film "Inherit the Wind."

Via the Williams Office of Communications:

In his lecture, Larson will discuss the famous Scopes Trial depicted in the film Inherit the Wind, in which teacher John Scopes was taken to court in 1925 in Dayton, Tenn., for teaching the theory of evolution in violation of state law. Larson will compare the factual and fictional accounts of this trial and provide commentary about the cultural legacy of the trial and the film. He will discuss the portrayal of the trial as a "contest between science and religion," and a "defense of intellectual freedom." Inherit the Wind is widely considered "a commentary on the cultural wars that still plague America," and this compelling classic features two-time Best Oscar winners Spencer Tracy and Fredric March.