Jerry Summers
During the July 1925 trial of State of Tennessee vs. John T Scopes about the constitutionality of the Anti Evolution Act (Butler) passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in the spring of that year over the banning of any theory of creation of man except that expressed in Genesis, many famous individuals were in attendance. One of the most renowned participants was a movie star from Hollywood who starred in “movies, vaudeville and Broadway.” Although his fabulous career was short and ended with his early death in 1930 his fame and legacy was carried on by his descendants until 2005.
In the circus atmosphere that included oddities and curiosities present in Dayton, the performer who had just completed a highly successful tour in Atlanta, was recognized and applauded as he strolled through the small town, dappily dressed in a “coat, pants, shoes, tie and top hat.”
The crowds grew as he daily put on a public performance, displaying his talents as he alternated between playing the piano and acrobatically riding a tricycle.
However, as the trial droned on with many motions and proceedings outside the presence the jury, the celebrity became bored, and at one point, newspapers across the country published a historical photo of the yawning celebrity claiming that he was “bored to death by the proceedings at Dayton evolution trial.”
In two 2023 Scopes Trial publications by author Randy Moore, the agent and close friends of the visitor Lewis Bauman and wife Gertrude Bauman, are depicted in photographs preserved for history in the Rhea County Historical and Genealogical Society Museum in the basement of the renovated courthouse.
The 100th anniversary of the famous trial will be celebrated beginning in March 2025, and will conclude with a two hour reenactment of the original event in the original courtroom and other festivities.
(The name of the famous visitor was Jo Mendi, and he is often credited (or blamed) for having famous Baltimore Sun cynic and writer, H L Mencken, describe the important legal proceedings as the “Monkey Trial.”)
PS: Jo’s net worth in 1925 was set at $100,000. Not bad for a chimpanzee!
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