{"id":829,"date":"2008-12-18T17:08:01","date_gmt":"2008-12-18T22:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=829"},"modified":"2009-01-31T10:04:09","modified_gmt":"2009-01-31T15:04:09","slug":"florida%e2%80%99s-greatest-menace-i-improper-and-subversive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=829","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Greatest Menace I: Improper and Subversive"},"content":{"rendered":"

(This is the first part in the Florida’s Greatest Menace series. For an introduction to the series, go here<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Our Florida story begins quite appropriately in the hands of one of the most prominent figures in the national evolution\/creationism battle: William Jennings Bryan. The Scopes \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Monkey Trial\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in Tennessee featured the competing wits of Bryan, who was a well-known antievolutionist, and Clarence Darrow, who was the lawyer defending teacher John Scopes against the charge of violating the state law forbidding the teaching of evolution. Before the 1925 trial seized the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attention, Bryan had retired to Florida with his wife, Mary. They had bought land in Coconut Grove in 1912 and had their home, called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Villa Serena\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, built there. It was originally intended as just a winter home, but when Bryan resigned his post as U.S. Secretary of State in 1915, the Bryans made it their permanent home. Bryan officially made Florida his legal residence in 1921.<\/p>\n

Bryan was a popular public figure in the area. He entertained U.S. presidents, foreign dignitaries, and other famous people of the time at his own home. This Florida \u00e2\u20ac\u0153retirement\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was more like setting up a new headquarters for his still-energetic life. He frequently gave public lectures and Sunday Bible talks with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people in attendance. And he was in high demand by organizations hoping to take advantage of his high profile to push their own causes, with antievolution and prohibition chief among them.<\/p>\n

Antievolution sentiment had been growing for a few years. For instance, the St. Petersburg Times noted in May 1922 that the Southern Baptist convention met in Jacksonville and that the organization wanted science textbooks \u00e2\u20ac\u0153free from erroneous statements on evolution.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The Baptists made it clear that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no man can rightly understand evolution\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s claim as set forth in the textbooks of today, and at the same time understand the Bible.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Another news report, this time from the Evening Independent in May 1923, demonstrates Bryan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commitment to antievolution efforts. The article reported that he turned down a committee chairmanship in the Presbyterian Assembly because he preferred to stay in an education committee. He would have had to drop the education role in order to fulfill the other chairmanship. According to the article, he was going to devote all his time to the fight \u00e2\u20ac\u0153against the Darwinian theory.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bryan was quoted as saying: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe that the doctrine that man is descended from a beast, a doctrine unsupported by any scientific fact, and directly contrary to the Bible account of the creation, is the greatest menace facing the church today \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The political connections that Bryan brought to the antievolution fight where invaluable. While in Florida, he made many friends in the state legislature. At about the same time that he declared war on evolution in the Evening Independent article, he was prodding his lawmaker friends to introduce an antievolution resolution. He was in contact with other states\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 legislators on behalf of antievolution, but since he lived in the Sunshine State he had considerable influence here. Representative of Franklin County, S. L. Giles, offered the following to his fellow lawmakers:<\/p>\n

That it is the sense of the legislature of the state of Florida that it is improper and subversive to the best interests of the people of this State for any professor, teacher or instructor in the public schools and colleges of this State, supported in whole or in part by public taxation, to teach or permit to be taught atheism, agnosticism, Darwinism, or any other hypothesis that links man in blood relation to any other form of life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There was some opposition to the resolution, so Bryan made a personal appearance before the legislature May 11, 1923 to help usher it along. At Bryan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s urging, the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153or to teach as true\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were slipped in before the word Darwinism, and the resolution then passed both the House and Senate with little trouble.<\/p>\n

The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153or to teach as true\u00e2\u20ac\u009d phrase reveals something interesting about Bryan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feelings on the evolution subject. He accepted the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153day-age\u00e2\u20ac\u009d creation theory, which meant that he believed that when the Bible outlines what was created on each day, those days could have actually lasted millions of years each. Evolution might not be all bunk, either, Bryan thought. It might apply to other living things, just not humans.<\/p>\n

Bryan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crusade against evolution came about when he heard from many concerned parents who attended his religious speeches that their children in college were turning away from the Bible. Upon investigating why this may be, Bryan determined that the teaching of evolution as fact was the root cause. Keep in mind, though, that evolution in general was just fine to Bryan. He had no problem with the subject being taught as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a theory.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But he did have a big problem with it being taught as a factual explanation for man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s origins. Another factor driving his antievolution efforts, and a big reason why he took on the Tennessee case, was that he felt that public school teachers were employees of the communities in which they worked. If the parents in those communities didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want subversive subjects like evolution taught, then teachers better comply.<\/p>\n

Imagine going about your daily life doing your run-of-the-mill job and then suddenly finding out that your job was actually reviled by a passionate, angry public. Dr. C. Francis Byers, a new biology professor at the University of Florida in the 1920s, remembers being in exactly that situation. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As a trained biologist I never even realized that there was anything controversial about evolution. It came as a surprise to me to be suddenly, as a young instructor, introduced into an environment where it could be even a fighting word, let alone a dangerous one,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n

Not only did Byers experience the controversy in his daily profession, he met Bryan in person and saw firsthand the conviction behind the antievolution drive. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was convinced, after talking to Bryan himself about this, that Bryan was absolutely intellectually honest. This wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a gimmick with him. He really meant it. And when he showed posters of a good-looking girl in the upper left-hand corner of the poster, let us say, and a chimpanzee or primate down in the lower right-had corner and banner across it saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcDid your daughter come from this?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 he really meant it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Bryan was realistic and calculating when advocating for the resolution. He felt that establishing a punishment for teaching evolution would rouse too much opposition and threaten its passage, so he recommended against it. Another reason for not establishing repercussions was that he felt the resolution was directed at \u00e2\u20ac\u0153an educated class that is supposed to respect the law.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beside, if the law is not obeyed, penalties could be imposed during the next legislative session, he thought. To Bryan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s consternation, though, the resolution was largely ignored. Newspapers didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give it much attention and so most people didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know about it. Bryan was forced to remedy that on his own as best he could. The St. Petersburg Times ran a story on June 20, 1923, that told of Bryan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frustration with a Chicago Tribune editorial that took him to task for his particular interpretation of the Bible. Bryan fired back, making sure to mention and directly quote the new Florida antievolution resolution.<\/p>\n

Bryan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s war on evolution seemed to consume him at this time in his life. It was so dominant in his mind that he went on endlessly about it in his syndicated newspaper column, Bryan Bible Talks. His editor, Guy V. Viskniskki, warned him that his obsessive opposition to evolution was driving away readers.<\/p>\n

Byers recalls that he had concerns about what needed to be done to ride out this antievolution storm. He approached his college president, Albert A. Murphree, about the problem. Byers remembers that Murphree had said that he would comply with whatever the law directs since the school was state supported. On the other hand, he knew that the professors considered evolution to be a vital part of their instruction. As Byers and Murphree talked, they worked out a compromise. Instead of using the word evolution, the college could refer to the concept as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153progressive development.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Murphree was okay with that, but wanted to know if human \u00e2\u20ac\u0153progressive development\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would be taught. Byers said yes. According to Byers, Murphree replied, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I wish that you wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stress that part.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Byers understood and so a deal was struck.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the way it was done,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Byers said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There was not real trouble here. Nobody that I know of got arrested and nobody was kicked out of the university that I know of for involving himself in the evolution thing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Dr. John Henry Davis was also a biology professor at UF, but he recalls that the evolution storm didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really blow through the classroom that much. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That was an issue that was brought up, but never taken below the level of the present heads of the department,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had decided that the less we talked about it, the better. We just went on and taught it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

For Bryan and the other ardent antievolutionists, that was a problem. They saw that the 1923 resolution wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t being taken seriously, and so they decided to do exactly as Bryan had suggested earlier: pass new legislation with some bite to it. Their next opportunity was the 1925 legislative session. However, Bryan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s influence was notably absent since he had boarded a train bound for Tennessee that year. He died shortly after the Scopes \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Monkey Trial\u00e2\u20ac\u009d while still in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Despite the loss of Bryan, Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s antievolutionists were still going strong. Representatives Albert W. McLeran, of Suwannee County, and Shelton Philips, of Levy County, introduced the following bill in 1925:<\/p>\n

House Bill No. 691:
\nA bill to be entitled An Act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all Universities, Normals, and all other public schools of Florida, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violation thereof.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The bill was referred to the Committee on Education. That committee tweaked the language so that the bill then read:<\/p>\n

A bill to be entitled An Act to prohibit the teaching in any college, university, normal school or other school in this State, supported in whole or in part by the public funds of the State or any subdivision thereof, as fact, any theory which denies the divine creation of man, and to provide penalties for the violation thereof.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, the bill wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t brought up again during the session and so died. (Unfortunately, I have no idea what penalties the lawmakers had in mind, as those details are not mentioned in the 1925 House Journal.)<\/p>\n

The bill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demise was just a temporary setback, though. Antievolution grew into a burning passion, prompting the creation of organizations like the Bible Crusaders of America and the Florida Purity League. A new bill was introduced in the 1927 legislative session, too. But unlike its ill-fated 1925 version, the controversy surrounding this bill created a raucous, circus-like atmosphere. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll read about those fireworks in the next installment of Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Greatest Menace series. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(This is the first part in the Florida’s Greatest Menace series. For an introduction to the series, go here.) Our Florida story begins quite appropriately in the hands of one of the most prominent figures in the national evolution\/creationism battle: … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-dn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":831,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=831","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":0},"title":"Florida’s Greatest Menace II: Objectionable phraseology","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"December 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"(This is the second part in the Florida's Greatest Menace series. For an introduction to the series, go here.) The great battle of the age is now on between Christianity and evolution, or so said George Washburn. He was one of the many men who heard the call to pick\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=831#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/newspdf\/tree_page483.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":828,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=828","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":1},"title":"Florida’s Greatest Menace: Introduction","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Greatest Menace series here at Florida Citizens for Science. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be writing posts over the next few months chronicling the history of the evolution\/creationism controversy as it relates directly to the Sunshine State. Here is a taste of what is to come: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sorry to dump\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1086,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1086","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":2},"title":"Workshop: Controversial Issues in the Science Classroom","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"July 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Several of us from Florida Citizens for Science will be heading over to Hillsborough County to participate in a Controversial Issues in the Science Classroom workshop next week. The four-day event for science teachers features talks by folks from Hillsborough County Public Schools, the University of South Florida College of\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1086#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1107,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1107","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":3},"title":"NWFSC evolution lecture series","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"August 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I had mentioned here before that there is a series of lectures about to launch at Northwest Florida State College on the subject of evolution. Here is a story that gives a bit more detail about the first speaker and the subjects of subsequent lectures. The first lecture [Aug 27],\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 4 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 4 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1107#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":922,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=922","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":4},"title":"Florida’s Greatest Menace V: Brainwashing Students","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"(This is the fifth part in the Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Greatest Menace series. For an introduction to the series, go here.) A new leader Waging a battle against the teaching of evolution has but one requirement: a leader with a fire in the belly and time to devote to the cause. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=922#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":850,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=850","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":5},"title":"Florida’s Greatest Menace IV: Free love and monkey teaching","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"(This is the\u00c2\u00a0fourth part in the Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Greatest Menace series. For an introduction to the series,\u00c2\u00a0go here.) The Florida Purity League Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 28, passed by the Florida legislature in 1927, directed the formation of a textbook review committee that would investigate claims of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153vulgar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d material found in\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=850#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/catts_broadside_2_sm1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}