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Edward Larson

A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian will provide a public lecture at the University of Kansas looking back on the “Scopes Monkey Trial,” which brought to a head 100 years ago the role of religion in public classrooms.

Edward Larson — a 1998 winner of a Pulitzer Prize for his book Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion, will speak at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Kansas Union.

Larson is considered one of the country’s top experts on the Scopes Trial, which in 1925 put high school teacher John Scopes on trial for teaching evolution in his public school classroom. The trial created lasting impacts on science, religion, and academic freedom.

Larson’s lecture, which is free and open to the public, will examine how the case became a defining moment in American history, and also share insights about some of the personalities behind the case, including attorneys Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryant.

KU’s Department of Religious Studies is hosting the event as part of its public programing to bridge matters of history, law, religion and public life.