This is the (edited for space) speech given by Ed Larson at the Scopes Trial Centennial convention in Chattanooga, Tenn., on July 19. He was introduced by convention emcee Leighann Lord. (To watch the speech, go to ffrf.org/scopescon. To see photos from the event, go to ffrf.us/scopespics.)

Leighann Lord: When I bring on our next speaker, in the absence of the physical presence of John Scopes or William Jennings Bryan or Clarence Darrow, the best person to have at a centennial conference celebrating the Scopes Monkey Trial, is the guy, like capital T, capital G, The Guy.

He won a Pulitzer Prize in history for his book, “Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion.” He’s also the author of “Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory” and coauthor of “The Essential Words and Writings of Clarence Darrow.” He holds the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and is a professor of history at Pepperdine University.

He’s taught for 20 years at the University of Georgia, where he chaired the history department. He has served as a visiting professor at several universities, including Yale Law School, Stanford Law School and the University of Melbourne. And he recently published “American Inheritance: Liberty and Slavery and the Birth of a Nation, 1765 to 1795.”

Long story short, he literally wrote the book. And that’s why Professor Ed Larson is the winner of this conference’s Clarence Darrow Award.

Read Ed’s speech in Freethought Today.

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