Vanderbilt and the Scopes Trial

From faculty to fossils, Vanderbilt’s ties to the infamous 1925 Scopes Trial run deep. This display highlights figures such as professors L.C. Glenn and E.E. Reinke and Chancellor James H. Kirkland, who spoke out in defense of teaching evolution, and contrasts them with Vanderbilt philosophy professor Herbert Charles Sanborn, a supporter of the Butler Act. Archival letters, newspaper headlines, and fossils of species Glenn once studied bring this complex history to life, along with an issue of Time magazine featuring Reinke’s salamander research. The artifacts show a university community confronting difficult questions about evolution, faith, and the role of education.