April 1, 1970, was a notable day in the history of Peabody College. John T. Scopes, defendant in the famous "Monkey Trial" of July 1925 in Dayton, Tenn., spent a full day on campus at the invitation of the Peabody Student Government Association.
This past summer marked the centennial of the Scopes Trial, which challenged the 1925 Tennessee state law forbidding the teaching of evolution. That history has been well covered. Less well known are the details of Scopes' visit to Peabody and the back story of how he came to campus.
Scopes' day-long visit to the usually serene Peabody campus brought the full attention of the national press, including Time Magazine, The New York Times, and a bevy of leading regional news bureaus. The press entourage was so large it was hard to navigate the sidewalks along the campus mall.
As president of the Peabody Student Government Association during my junior year (1969-70), I had the privilege of shadowing most of the day's events. Scopes was welcomed by President John Claunch, and then guided through a busy schedule by Eugene Dietz, Peabody's public relations director.
Scopes made a symbolic visit to a biology class in the Home Economics Building (now Six Magnolia Circle), had a light-hearted photo-op at the primate colony housed on the roof of what is now the Hobbs Building, and attended a luncheon in the Hill Student Center hosted by members of the Board of Trust.
One memorable anecdote from the luncheon: Horace Greeley Hill, Jr., who served as chair of the Peabody Board of Trust and was the owner of a legacy family-owned grocery chain, told Scopes the story of tagging along as a teenager on a road trip in July 1925 with his father, H. G. Hill, Sr., to check on his grocery outlets in Chattanooga. As they were leaving Chattanooga to return to Nashville, his father took a detour to Dayton, Tenn., telling the younger Hill there was an event underway that was worth seeing. Thus, Scopes and H.G. Hill, Jr. reconnected 45 years later in the Peabody student center.
I had the privilege of introducing Scopes at the mid-afternoon public lecture. My approach to public speaking at the time was to use a few bullet points as an outline, but if ever I should have used carefully scripted remarks, this was the occasion. I had repurposed the well-worn yarn about coming across a monkey in the library stacks, a Bible in one hand and a copy of Darwin's On the Origin of Species in the other. The primate was pondering whether he was his brother's keeper, or his keeper's brother. As noted, a scripted introduction would have served better.
Scopes used his public address to challenge future teachers to question the limits of conventional wisdom, and to resist any erosion of academic freedom. His tone was not fiery or inciteful, more like calm recitation. He did not speak about how the Dayton trial drew him in as an unwitting defendant. He had told that story previously in the day in less formal settings.
This recap is my recollection of what took place that day. The story of how the invitation was extended to-and accepted by-Scopes is less well known.
Sullied reputations
In fall 1969, I led the Peabody SGA with other officers elected to carry out the traditional roles of student government, among them, bringing speakers to campus. Vanderbilt by then had a very successful Impact Symposium. Peabody could not compete with or replicate a program on that scale. We could, it was hoped, at least sponsor one or two outside speakers who were among the newsmakers of the day.
A few classmates assisted me in my SGA role. My closest advisors were Robert Early (Peabody BA'71; Vanderbilt MDiv'76) and Gary Reynolds (Peabody BA'71) who served as co-chairs of the SGA speaker's committee. Together, these two were key members of an informal kitchen cabinet.
One of the people frequently in the national news at the time-but not always for exemplary reasons-was Congressman Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY), who was also a minister. After several terms in Congress, where his seniority allowed him to become chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, Congressman Powell was charged with corruption. He was unseated by Congress for one term but was reelected to his seat two years later. He was a controversial figure, often in the news, and outspoken on matters of race and equality. In short, he was just the kind of guy my pals Early and Reynolds thought would make an interesting speaker at Peabody. We set out to invite Congressman Powell.
After reviewing the contract, we concluded that it needed an official co-signature from Peabody College Dean of Students Arthur Cook, who quickly decided Congressman Powell would be too controversial. Rather than veto our idea, however, he suggested it would need a more senior administrator's signature, perhaps thinking that would derail our plans.
Not wanting to ask the Peabody president and risk disapproval, I instead took the contract to Vice President for Academic Affairs Hollis Moore. I was on good terms with Moore and thought he would allow us to proceed, even for an ill-advised choice. After a brief and colorful discussion, Moore signed the contract, and we mailed it back to Congressman Powell's agent in New York.
The news of our plan soon reached President Claunch. He was not pleased. The three of us who had hatched this plan were summoned to the president's office-on a Saturday morning, no less. The building was quiet and empty.
President Claunch ushered us into his office as he placed another log in the wood-burning fireplace. After small pleasantries, we settled in for "the talk." President Claunch told us his concerns about inviting to campus a person with a sullied reputation, the negative attention it could bring to the college, and suggested we consider a speaker with more redeeming values and worthwhile message.
As he spoke, it became clear that President Claunch was unaware the speaker's contract had already been signed and returned. We three students squirmed uncomfortably, looking for an opening to tell him the news. Just as Claunch was directing us not to sign the contract and to rescind the invitation, one of us confessed the contract had already been signed and returned.
President Claunch rose from his chair and said, "What? Who signed the contract?"
I had no option other than to identify Vice President Moore as the co-signatory. (No doubt Claunch later discussed the matter with Moore, but I never heard any details about what must have been a tense exchange. And to his credit, Moore never told me that I had unwittingly sandbagged him.) President Claunch then emphatically directed us to uninvite Congressman Powell.
Our meeting with President Claunch ended with a lecture about following protocol and an admonishment that we should invite a speaker who could address concerns in the broader policy arena. He then turned our meeting into an impromptu exam and asked us what kind of challenges and issues we thought would confront our nation in the near term.
Without hesitation, Reynolds spoke up and said, "The environment, ecology, energy policy."
"You are a perceptive young man," President Claunch said.
We were then excused. Class dismissed.
We arranged to rescind the invitation and cancel the contract, giving an excuse to the speaker's bureau that we needed to reconfirm our budget and reschedule. This ordeal still had the potential to blow up and embarrass the College. We held our collective breath as we navigated the contract cancellation without a dispute.
For the time being, a confrontation between the Student Government Association and President Claunch was averted and resolved, but relations between the SGA and the administration were awkward and chilly for the remainder of the semester.
What happened a few weeks later was both fortuitous and redemptive.
"A man who stood up for what he believed"
Enter Eugene Dietz, the head of a one-man press and public affairs office for the college. A capable and savvy newsman, Dietz had heard about SGA's false start to secure a speaker and had an idea to salvage our efforts, while also bringing positive attention to Peabody. He invited Early, Reynolds and me to meet in his small office on the second floor of the Peabody Administration Building.
It seemed Dietz had a connection to the Scopes family, possibly through Mrs. John Scopes. With our excited concurrence and in the name of the SGA, Dietz invited Scopes to visit the campus.
SGA hosted Scopes' campus visit and public lecture; we were redeemed and allowed to be front and center for this event, with steady guidance from Dietz. I have always felt a deep respect and gratitude to Dietz for his sense of diplomacy and generosity.
"[Scopes] has the appeal today of a man who stood up for what he believed. This appeal was valid in 1925, it's valid today, and will hold up in the future."
Scopes' visit to Peabody marked the first time since 1925 that he stepped into a Tennessee classroom. The Peabody Board of Trust, administrative leadership, faculty, and the student body enjoyed the excitement and positive attention his visit brought to Peabody. But none more so than me and my co-conspirators in the kitchen cabinet.
After the public lecture, Reynolds was quoted in an article published by the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper: "[Scopes] has the appeal today of a man who stood up for what he believed. This appeal was valid in 1925, it's valid today, and will hold up in the future."
Scopes died six months later, on October 21,1970.
Steven Smartt received his bachelor's ('71) and master's ('72) degrees in music education from Peabody College, and a Ph.D. (1975) in higher education management from Florida State University. He served as an administrator at Vanderbilt from 1981 to 2014, first as director of sponsored research, and later as associate dean of the Graduate School and assistant provost for research. He continues to be active as a part-time professional musician based in Nashville. One of his fonder memories while at Peabody was getting permission-in advance-to post a huge campaign banner atop the dome of the prominent Social-Religious Building (now the Faye and Joe Wyatt Center). Playing off a popular TV series, it read: "Get Smartt: Steve for President."
