Mar 13, 1925 Austin Peay, Democratic Governor of Tennessee signed the legislation (the Butler Act) which prohibiting the teaching of evolution in Tennessee’s public school system. (He was a strong advocate of public education.) The legislation was challenged in the infamous “Scopes Monkey Trial” in July of that year.
Peay, originally a native of Kentucky, was electred governor of Tennessee in 1922, defeating Taylor, a Republican. Peay’s popularity was not hurt by the trial of John Scopes, as he was re-elected a third time in 1926, after the trial that pited William Jennings Bryan against Clarence Darrow. Bryan won.
