Going Ape: Florida's Battles over Evolution in the Classroom PDF
Preview Going Ape: Florida's Battles over Evolution in the Classroom
Going Ape University Press of Florida Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers Florida International University, Miami Florida State University, Tallahassee New College of Florida, Sarasota University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Florida, Gainesville University of North Florida, Jacksonville University of South Florida, Tampa University of West Florida, Pensacola University Press of Florida Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota Going Ape Florida’s Battles over Evolution in the Classroom Brandon Haught Copyright 2014 by Brandon Haught All rights reserved An early version of chapter 9 originally appeared in Reports of the National Center for Science Education 28, no. 4 (2008). Printed in the United States of America on recycled, acid-free paper This book may be available in an electronic edition. 19 18 17 16 15 14 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Haught, Brandon. Going ape : Florida’s battles over evolution in the classroom / Brandon Haught. pages cm Summary: In this book, Haught chronicles the war over teaching evolution in Florida’s schools, from the first shouts of religious persecution and child endangerment in Tallahassee in 1923 to the forced delays and extra public hearings in state-level textbook adoptions today. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8130-4943-4 (alk. paper) 1. Evolution (Biology)—Study and teaching—Florida. 2. Evolution (Biology)—Philosophy. 3. Creationism. 4. Religion and state. 5. Religion and science. I. Title. QH362.H38 2014 576.8—dc23 2013044108 University Press of Florida 15 Northwest 15th Street Gainesville, FL 32611-2079 http://www.upf.com To my son, Caleb, my anchor in a stormy sea This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface ix 1. “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” 1 2. “Un-American, Atheistic, Subversive, and Communistic” 24 3. “A Spirit of Compromise and Conciliation” 51 4. “A History of Hoaxes, Deception, and Deceit” 71 5. “A Conspiracy to Destroy the Faith of Children” 91 6. “It Was Historic, Wasn’t It?” 102 7. “One of the Primal Evils in Our Country” 122 8. “There Are Razor Blades in That Apple” 139 9. “I Want God to Be Part of This” 162 10. “Who Gets to Decide What Is Science?” 187 11. “Standing Up for the Little Guy” 220 Epilogue 232 Acknowledgments 235 Notes 237 Index 269 This page intentionally left blank Preface I 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 fac- ing the church today. William Jennings Bryan, 1923 “As a trained biologist I never even realized that there was anything controversial about evolution,” said Dr. C. Francis Byers, recalling his time as a new biology professor in the 1920s at the University of Florida in Gainesville. “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.”1 Byers had witnessed the genesis of a war over the teaching of evolu- tion in Florida’s schools that has lasted ninety years and still engulfs the state with undiminished strength. Over the years it has featured some of the most tenacious culture warriors imaginable. Many governors, state legislators, school board members, and teachers have endured raucous battles in the local and national spotlights, some by choice and others unwittingly. | ix
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