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November 12, 1968, the day that changed education throughout the United States for centuries to come. The story consist of a school teacher from a town in Arkansas that went against the odds to change the law banning the teaching of evolution in the school system. In the Supreme Court case Epperson v. Arkansas, it was ruled that laws barring the teaching of the theory of evolution is unconstitutional for government must stay neutral on topics relating to religion. This blog includes the story of Susan Epperson and her journey fighting against a community blinded by religion and didn’t want to believe that humans evolved from apes.
Susan Epperson’s Background
Susan Epperson was the daughter of Dr. Thomas L. Smith who was a biology professor at the College of the Ozarks, a Presbyterian college. Epperson was raised in a devoutly Presbyterian family, and evolution was never a problem for her faith.
How the Case Started
Susan Epperson taught biology at a small college in Arkansas and during the 1965–66 academic year school administrators adopted a textbook that included information on the evolution theory, she was confronted with the task of teaching from the new textbook. The state of Arkansas had a law banning the teaching of evolution in public schools; since Epperson had been teaching evolution to her biology students she was tried at the Supreme Court on October 16, 1968. Most Americans during this time period and in the past were Christians; evolution was seen as a threat to Christianity because its teachings contradicted the teachings in the Bible of how the world was created.
The Trial
A court in Arkansas ruled that the statute violated the Fourteenth Amendment, which safeguards the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and thought from state interference. The Supreme Court of Arkansas, however, reversed the decision, holding that it was within the state’s authority to specify public schools’ curriculum. It argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on October 16, 1968, and the court held that the law was unconstitutional because the government must remain neutral on issues relating to religion. The US Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the Arkansas law banning the teaching of evolution is a violation of the First Amendment.
Supporters
Forrest Rozzell was the executive secretary of the Arkansas Education Association, and he wanted to find someone to challenge the anti-evolution law so that it might be struck down. A teacher offered to be arrested for teaching it flamboyantly, but Eugene Warren, the AEA lawyer, declined the offer because he feared that it would be a repetition of the John Scopes trial. AEA decided instead to find a teacher who would ask for a declaratory judgment on the law, and through family connections, Susan Epperson was chosen as a candidate. The day before they filed the lawsuit she talked about it with her principal, and he said that he supported her.
Non-supporters
In January 1927, State Representative Astor L. Rotenberry of Pulaski County introduced an anti evolution bill into the Arkansas legislature. In February, it passed the House by a vote of 51–46 but was tabled by the Senate twice. When the trial started and Epperson speaking out, she received a lot of hate mail; many people wrote nasty remarks about her. Evolution was not being taught in Arkansas because of community pressures. Many people found the teaching of evolution to be immoral and unjust because it contradicted the Christian bible. Religion was more important to their community than science, and they didn’t believe that science was the truth. There was even an anti evolution movement that started in opposition to the teaching of evolution in schools.
The Aftermath
Epperson v. Arkansas settled once and for all the outlawing of the teaching of evolutionary theory in the classroom, but it did not end the quest of fundamentalists to change school curriculum to conform to a literal reading of the Bible. Teachers saw that the failing to teach the theory of evolution in class would repeal their obligations to their students and in a way failing them.
Synthesis
The Scopes Monkey trial in 1925 was the prosecution of a science teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution at a public school in Dayton, Tennessee. William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow were opposing attorneys for this trial and they were also the best known orators during this era. William Jennings Bryan was the prosecuting attorney and William Clarence Darrow was the defense attorney for John Scopes. Clarence Darrow interrogated William Jennings Bryan on the Bible and defended evolution. William Jennings Bryan was a reverend and he took the Bible literally and advocated for anti-evolution. In the end, religion prevailed, the Butler Act was upheld and the anti-evolution movement continued. In contrast, the Epperson v. Arkansas case overturned the decision made in the Scopes Monkey trial by outlawing the banning of evolution in public schools.
References
Bowman, Kristi. “Epperson v. Arkansas.” Anti-Discrimination Laws, https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/265/epperson-v-arkansas.
Cartwright, Reed A. “The Biology Teacher Next Door: Susan Epperson at Evolution 2004.”The Panda's Thumb, 3 July 2004, https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2004/07/the-biology-tea.html.
“Epperson v. Arkansas - Encyclopedia of Arkansas.” Owen Vincent Madden (1891–1965) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Epperson v. Arkansas - Encyclopedia of Arkansas.” Owen Vincent Madden (1891–1965) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas, www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2528.
"Epperson v. State of Arkansas." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9 Jul. 2014. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Epperson-v-State-of-Arkansas/609543.
Goldberg, Steven. “Science versus Religion in American Law.” Culture Clash: Law and Science in America, NYU Press, New York; London, 1994, pp. 69–83. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qfqbm.8.