1925 FASCINATING ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LETTER WITH DETAILS OF THE SCOPES MONKEY TRIAL HANDWRITTEN BY AN OFF THE WALL, OBTUSE MAN TO HIS FORMER TEACHER

Katz Fine Manuscripts Verified independent store

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On offer is a fascinating, original July 1925 letter addressed to 'Mr. Hertzog' [supposedly a well known Los Angeles radio personality though we cannot confirm] regarding the ongoi ng, infamous Scopes Monkey Trial. The letter is on the stationery of Mrs. H.B. Devine of Chicago Illinois but is signed by Ralph Fredrick MacDonald. Formally called 'State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes' the trial was a landmark American legal case in which high school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which made it unlawful to teach evolution. Prosecuting was three time presidential candidate for the Democrats William Jennings Bryan while Clarence Darrow unsuccessfully defended Mr. Scopes. The letter refers to a news clipping [absent] regarding Dr. Metcalfe's testimony. MacDonald appears to have been in Hertzog's class, knows Hertzog's son Walter and refers to Hertzog's claims about the existence of plant life 50 - 75,000 years ago, then he refers to 'those huge monsters' [dinosaurs] existing billions of years ago and then the letter turns into a diatribe wherein he states he 'hates Japs' and believes in white supremacy and prefers Greek architecture. All in all a very interesting association to the trial and peek at one man's radical and racial views at the time. Overall VG. Show more