In this course, we will explore the struggles and triumph "inbetween peoples" after Reconstruction and before WWII.
Upon first thought, the Summer of the Gods does not necessarily lend itself to a discussion of inbetween peoples. The Pulitzer Prize winning work is concerned with an entirely different group of people than this class has dealt with, thus far. For the most part, we have read about the struggles of those [...]
In reading Summer of the Gods, I am tempted in some respects to play devil’s advocate for people like Bryan, who feared that teaching evolution in schools would destroy the moral fiber of the next generation. When Bryan and Darrow face off in the courtroom, Bryan, on the witness stand, states, “I am simply trying [...]
As schoolchildren, we often learn about the now infamous Scopes trial in the rather simplistic terms, as a debate over the role of creationism and evolutionism in classrooms across America. The Scopes trial, however, was anything but simple. In his book Summer for the Gods, Edward Larson examines the Scopes trial and proves [...]
According to Darrow’s autobiography, “All in all, that was a summer for the gods!” (177). Edward Larson makes a point of fleshing out the colorful personalities of these “gods” in the Scopes’ Trial. The different biases and social agendas that these powerful attorneys brought with them is what shaped the meaning of [...]