>>FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM WAS PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERISTY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA COLLEGE OF ARTS AND HUMANTIES.

THE FOLLOWING IS A STUDENT AND FACULTY PRODUCTION OF THE UCF BURNETT HONORS COLLEGE.

>>I REMEMBER THAT ONE OF THE PEOPLE FROM OUR CHURCH, THE LITTLE CHURCH WHERE I WENT CAME AND TALKED TO MY MOTHER AND SAID, “YOU KNOW, IF YOU SEND HER TO THIS SCHOOL SHE IS GOING TO LEARN TO DANCE AND PLAY CARDS?” AND MY MOTHER SAID, “SHE ALREADY KNOWS HOW TO DO ALL THAT!” ♪ PIANO MUSIC >> LONG BEFORE THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION OF THE SIXTIES, YOUNG STUDENTS OF THE 1920'S CONFRONTED GENDER INEQUALITY.

MORE GIRLS THAN EVER WERE FINISHING HIGH SCHOOL, AND THEY WERE EAGER FOR AN ADVANCED EDUCATION THAT WOULD NOT ONLY PREPARE THEM FOR A CAREER, BUT ALSO MAKE THEM INFORMED CITIZENS.

>> THEY'RE VERY STRONG WOMEN FROM THAT ERA BY THE WAY.

VERY ARTICULATE, VERY BRIGHT, VERY INTELLECTUAL...THEY WERE HERE TO GET AN EDUCATION AND DO SOMETHING WITH THEIR LIVES.

>>ACADEMICS, LAWMAKERS, AND THE PUBLIC HAD VERY DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT WHAT WOMEN SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN COLLEGE CLASSES.

AND IN 1928, FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN BATTLED WITH RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISTS WHO ACCUSED IT OF CORRUPTING YOUNG WHITE WOMEN.

>> “THAT WAS WHAT I HEARD ABOUT DR. BELLAMY'S COURSE.

THERE HAD BEEN CONTROVERSY IN THE PAST THAT ALMOST CAUSED TEACHERS TO LOSE THEIR JOBS BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY TAUGHT.

>>A MAN BY THE NAME OF TATUM HAS BEEN CAUSING A WORLD OF TROUBLE.

HE WANTS PUBLICITY.

[TYPE WRITTER CHIMES] >>IT HAS BEEN STATED THAT I TAUGHT FREE LOVE, ADVOCATED INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE, AND THAT I TEACH ALL FORMS OF ATHEISM.

A LOT OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE STATE BELIEVE IT.

>> “DR.

RAYMOND BELLAMY'S ANTI-CHRISTIAN TEACHING IS ALTOGETHER CONSISTENT WITH THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN TEACHING FOUND IN THE TEXTBOOKS IN THE DEPARTMENTS OF SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY.” >>AT THE CENTER OF THE CONTROVERSY WERE A RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALIST AND A SOCIOLOGY TEACHER... WHO DISAGREED OVER WHAT STUDENTS SHOULD LEARN ABOUT SCIENCE.

OF COURSE, MANY OF THE WOMEN WHO GRADUATED FROM FSCW WOULD GO ON TO BE EDUCATORS THEMSELVES.

>>FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN WAS PRIMARILY A LIBERAL ARTS AND EDUCATION, IN FACT MY MOTHER GRADUATED FROM FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN IN 1928.

>>HILDA ELIZABETH SIMMONS MAJORED IN EDUCATION.

HER FATHER WAS A COUNTRY PHYSICIAN WHO SENT ALL OF HIS DAUGHTERS TO FSCW.

DURING HER TIME THERE, THE SCHOOL FOUND ITSELF AT THE CENTER OF AN IDEOLOGICAL BATTLE OVER FAITH AND SCIENCE IN THE CLASSROOM.

QUOTING A PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE FROM THE BOOK OF JUDE, RELIGIOUS ACTIVISTS LABELED THE COLLEGE PRESIDENT, PROFESSORS AND THE STUDENTS WHO SUPPORTED THEM... “FILTHY DREAMERS.” ♪ MUSIC >>(SINGING ALMA MATER) GARNET AND GOLD, AND MAY WE EVER LOYAL BE!

FEMINA PERFECTA, AND AT THE TOP WE'LL ALWAYS STAND.

AND, FLORIDA WILL BE THE VERY BEST IN ALL THE LAND!

(LAUGHS) ♪ MUSIC WELL THE DORMS WERE NOT LUXURIOUS IN ANY WAY THE WAY I READ ABOUT IT TODAY.

THEY WERE PRETTY BASIC.

ALWAYS HAD TO SIGN OUT IF WE WENT ANYWHERE OFF CAMPUS.

AND ALSO SIGN IN WHEN WE GOT BACK.

WE DIDN'T WANT TO GO BY THE RULES EXACTLY.

BUT WE DIDN'T WANT TO BREAK THEM EITHER BECAUSE WE DID NOT WANT TO GET SHIPPED HOME.

>>BRIDGET AND RUTH TOLD US STORIES ABOUT FSCW STUDENTS IN THE 1920S, AND HOW AT THAT TIME, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGES MADE ENFORCING THE RULES PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING.

THE DRESSES STARTED TO BE CUT LOWER, SKIRTS WERE GETTING HIGHER, THE STOCKINGS WERE ROLLED DOWN.

AND SO THERE WAS A FEELING THAT MORALS ARE BEING LOOSENED AND WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING TO TIGHTEN IT UP.

♪ MUSIC >>WHEN THEY LOOKED AT THESE FLAPPERS AND THEY LOOKED AT THESE YOUNG WOMEN WITH THEIR SHORT HAIR AND THEIR STRANGE CLOTHES AND THEIR FRIENDSHIPS WITH BOYS, WHICH WAS VERY UNUSUAL AT THAT TIME, THE PERCEPTION WAS THESE WOMEN WERE HAVING A LOT OF SEX, AND THE PERCEPTION WAS THEY WERE FLOOZIES.

BUT RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT IN FACT, THEY WERE HAVING NO MORE SEX THAN THEIR MOTHERS HAD.

THEY JUST PERHAPS WERE MORE OPEN ABOUT THE SEX.

>> YOUNG WOMEN ENJOYED THE NEW MUSIC, FASHION, AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE 1920S.

THEY ALSO EMBRACED CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS IN THEIR CLASSROOMS.

>>EVOLUTION WASN'T NEW IN THE 1920S BUT IT CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY AND BECAME A POLITICAL ISSUE AT THAT TIME BECAUSE OF THE WAY SCIENCE EDUCATION WAS CHANGING, BIOLOGY EMERGING AS A FIELD THAT GETS TAUGHT, AND OF COURSE MORE STUDENTS GOING TO HIGH SCHOOL IN THE 1920S.

[EVOLUTION CARTOON MX] >>AT THE TIME, EVOLUTION WAS ACCUSED OF EVERYTHING BAD, FROM COMMUNISM TO FAMILIES FALLING APART, TO JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, UH, WORLD WAR I IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY EVOLUTION.

IN SHORT, EVOLUTION IS SEEN AS A REVOLUTION IN THE WAY HUMANS UNDERSTAND THEIR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE.

>>A POPULAR POLITICIAN NAMED WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN DID MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE TO POPULARIZE THE NEGATIVE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF TEACHING EVOLUTION.

BRYAN SPENT HIS WINTERS IN FLORIDA AND WAS INTIMATELY CONNECTED TO THE POWERFUL POLITICAL FAMILIES INFLUENTIAL IN THE STATE'S CAPITAL.

>>“HE HEARD FROM A LOT OF PARENTS WHO WERE VERY VERY CONCERNED.

THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THEIR KIDS GOING OFF TO COLLEGE AND STARTING TO LOSE FAITH IN THE BIBLE.” >>DURING THE 1923 LEGISLATIVE SESSION, BRYAN WROTE FREQUENTLY TO STATE LAWMAKERS ABOUT THEIR ANTI-EVOLUTION MEASURES.

HE URGED SENATOR WILBUR J. SINGLETARY FROM MARIANNA TO CRAFT LEGISLATION THAT WOULD BAN ATHEISM AND TEACHING EVOLUTION AS FACT.

AS NEWSPAPERS AROUND FLORIDA TRACKED THESE EFFORTS, VARIOUS CHRISTIAN CHURCH GROUPS LINED-UP IN SUPPORT.

BUT BUSINESS INTERESTS DID NOT.

THE JUNIOR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN JACKSONVILLE PROCLAIMED THAT “IF THE BAN ON THE THEORY OF DARWINISM WAS EFFECTIVE, THEN FUTURE GENERATIONS WOULD BE RELEGATED TO THE SAME LEVEL OF INTELLIGENCE AS LEGISLATORS.” ULTIMATELY, FLORIDA'S EARLY ANTI-EVOLUTION RESOLUTION DIDN'T HAVE ANY TEETH.

THE LEGISLATURE DIDN'T MEET AGAIN UNTIL 1925 AND BY THEN, BRYAN HAD LEFT FLORIDA TO PROSECUTE A BIOLOGY TEACHER CAUGHT VIOLATING TENNESSEE'S ANTI-EVOLUTION LAW.

THE SO-CALLED “SCOPES MONKEY TRIAL” WAS THE FIRST EVER TO BE BROADCAST LIVE ON THE RADIO... AND IT CAPTURED THE NATION'S ATTENTION.

>>MONKEY BUSINESS, MONKEY BUSINESS DOWN IN TENNESSEE MY LOU, LOU MADE ME FALL.

I'M MONKEY AFTERALL.

MONKEY BUSINESS, MONKEY BUSINESS... >>SCOPES WAS A PROTEST, IN THE FORM OF A TRIAL, ORCHESTRATED BY THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION.

>>EVEN THE CONVICTION OF JOHNS SCOPES IN THE END TOOK NINE MINUTES.

JURY GOES OUT, NINE MINUTES, COME BACK IN, SAY GUILTY.

BUT IF WE TAKE THE SCOPES TRIAL AS IT WAS SEEN AT THE TIME, IT'S NOT JUST A NINE MINUTE TRIAL.

IT'S SHOWDOWN BETWEEN THESE TWO BUNDLES OF CULTURAL MEANING.

THE FUNDAMENTALIST SIDE, ANTI-EVOLUTION AND THE SORT OF MODERN SCIENCE SIDE, PRO EVOLUTION.

[FUNERAL BELL TOLLS] >>WHEN BRYAN DIED 3 DAYS AFTER THE SCOPES TRIAL ENDED, FUNDAMENTALISTS ALL OVER THE NATION...

INCLUDING FLORIDA...

VOWED TO KEEP HIS FIGHT AGAINST EVOLUTION ALIVE.

>>EVOLUTION IS SEEN AS A BIG CITY THING, A NEW YORK THING, UH, AND EVOLUTION BECOMES UH, A BADGE OF NOT JUST A CERTAIN IDEA OF RELIGION OR SCIENCE, BUT IT BECOMES A BADGE OF SOUTHERN PRIDE.

>>INSPIRED BY THE LEGACY LEFT BY BRYAN A FLORIDA GROUP CALLED THE BIBLE CRUSADERS INCREASED PRESSURE ON LAWMAKERS TO BAN CERTAIN SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS AND PASS AN ANTI-EVOLUTION BILL.

MEANWHILE, A TALLAHASSEE FUNDAMENTALIST AND CHURCH DEACON NAMED L.A. TATUM ATTACKED FSCW AND THE HEAD OF ITS SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, PROFESSOR RAY BELLAMY.

BELLAMY WAS QUITE A CHARACTER, ACTING AS RINGMASTER FOR THE ANNUAL COLLEGE CIRCUS.

HE WAS ALSO ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR, OUTSPOKEN, AND CONTROVERSIAL MEMBERS OF THE FSCW FACULTY.

>>OH, THE STUDENTS LOVED HIM.

HE WAS SO DIFFERENT FROM ANYTHING WE'D HAD IN HIGH SCHOOL.

BECAUSE HE BROUGHT UP SUBJECTS WE HADN'T HEARD ABOUT.

>>HE WANTED TO TEACH US TO THINK MORE CRITICALLY AND NOT TAKE EVERYTHING AT FACE VALUE BUT TO THINK SERIOUSLY AND CRITICALLY.

HE WOULD THROW OUT SOME STRANGE COMMENT OR QUESTION JUST TO SEE WHAT HE COULD ROUSE US TO SAY.

HE DIDN'T TRY TO TEACH US THAT OR ANYTHING INDOCTRINATE US TO SOME ATHEISTIC IDEA, BUT HE JUST WANTED US TO ARGUE WITH HIM AND TAKE SIDES AND EXPRESS OPINIONS WE HADN'T EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT.

>>WELL, MY DEFINITION OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM IS FREEDOM FROM EXTERNAL INTRUSIONS INTO THE DECISIONS THAT AFFECT THE RESEARCH, THE SERVICE, AND THE EDUCATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS.

>>AS A SOUTHERN FUNDAMENTALIST, TATUM FEARED BELLAMY WAS OUT TO CORRUPT THE YOUNG LADIES IN HIS CLASSROOM.

SO TATUM SET OUT TO CONVINCE LAWMAKERS TO INVESTIGATE BELLAMY, ASKING ABOUT THE LESSONS HE WAS TEACHING, THE BOOKS HE ASSIGNED IN CLASS, EVEN THE BOOKS HE CHECKED OUT OF THE LIBRARY FOR HIS RESEARCH.

>>BELLAMY, IF YOU READ HIS WRITING ABOUT THIS TIME PERIOD HE BASICALLY SAID HE WALKED AROUND FOR NEARLY THREE YEARS IN DAILY FEAR THAT HE WOULD LOSE HIS JOB AND HE SUMMED IT UP THE ATTACKS ON HIM WERE MULTIFOLD.

HE WAS ACCUSED OF BEING AN ATHEIST, HE WAS ACCUSED OF BEING A BOLSHEVIK, HE WAS ACCUSED OF PREACHING FREE LOVE, HE WAS ACCUSED OF TEACHING EVOLUTION, AND HE WAS ACCUSED BEING A DAMN YANKEE AND ONLY THE LATTER TWO WERE TRUE.

>>BELLAMY HAD REASON TO BE CONCERNED.

IN 1923 THE STATE LEGISLATURE FIRED SEVERAL PROFESSORS AND THE PRESIDENT OF FLORIDA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE FOR NEGROES FOR TEACHING THE LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCE AND MATH.

BELLAMY KNEW HE COULD EXPECT PLENTY OF SCRUTINY WHEN IT CAME TO THE EDUCATIONAL AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG WHITE WOMEN.

BUT BELLAMY'S BOSS STOOD BEHIND HIM.

FSCW PRESIDENT DR. EDWARD CONRADI FOSTERED A PROGRESSIVE CURRICULUM.

>>TATUM WAS WORRIED BELLAMY'S LESSONS EXPOSED STUDENTS TO THOUGHTS THAT COUNTERACTED BIBLE TEACHINGS.

IN FACT, A STORY PUBLISHED BY A SOCIOLOGY MAJOR CHALLENGED TRADITIONAL GENDER ROLES THROUGH A RETELLING OF EVE'S FALL FROM GRACE.

>>THE QUOTE “EVE DID NO WRONG” COMES FROM AN ESSAY CALLED “THE SORROWS OF THE EVE” BY A STUDENT WHO WAS A FRESHMAN AT THE TIME BY THE NAME OF KELLER HARRIS.

(MUSIC UNDER)AND THE PIECE IS RATHER DELIGHTFUL BECAUSE WHAT SHE DOES IS SORT OF DO A YOUNG MODERN WOMAN'S TAKE ON EVE, BASICALLY IMAGINING THE LIFE OF EVE IN EDEN FROM A COLLEGE STUDENT'S POINT OF VIEW.

FROM KELLER HARRIS' PERSPECTIVE LIFE IN EDEN FOR EVE MUST HAVE BEEN YOU KNOW PRETTY DARN DULL.

SO SHE WRITES THAT NOT ONLY DID EVE DO NO WRONG IN TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE GARDEN, BUT I'M SURPRISED, IT'S A WONDER THAT IT TOOK HER SO LONG TO DO SO.

>>I FOUND THIS PIECE STRIKING BECAUSE IT SUGGESTS THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE MODERN WORLD IS PART OF THIS RURAL SOUTHERN COLLEGE.

HERE IS A YOUNG WOMAN, SHE'S A FRESHMAN, FROM A SMALL TOWN IN FLORIDA AT THE SUPPOSEDLY CLOISTERED SOUTHERN PUBLIC COLLEGE FOR WOMEN AND YET SHE'S WRITING LIKE A NASCENT DOROTHY PARKER.

AND I FOUND THAT VERY INTERESTING.

>>THE STORY WAS PUBLISHED IN THE COLLEGE LITERARY MAGAZINE IN EARLY 1927, BUT THERE IS NO WAY FOR US TO KNOW FOR SURE WHETHER TATUM WAS EVER AWARE OF IT.

>>I DO THINK HIS MOTIVATIONS WERE SINCERE...

HE WAS VERY SINGLE MINDED IN HIS OBJECTIONS TO THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN MATERIALS AT FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.

INITIALLY HE WAS VERY EFFECTIVE BECAUSE HE OBTAINED THE SUPPORT OF LOCAL CHURCH LEADERS, LOCAL POLITICAL LEADERS AND I THINK HE ALSO DID A VERY GOOD JOB, PLAYING INTO FEARS THAT THE MODERN WORLD AND PERHAPS UNIVERSITY WAS CORRUPTING YOUNG SOUTHERN WOMANHOOD.

>>BY APRIL THE SAME YEAR HARRIS PUBLISHED HER EVE TALE, VARIOUS ANTI-EVOLUTION BILLS WERE INTRODUCED IN THE HOUSE BUT THE SENATE HAD NO TASTE FOR THE ISSUE UNTIL SOMETHING ELSE CAUGHT ITS ATTENTION.

>>IN ALL THIS TALK, ALL THIS DEBATE CONSTANTLY BEING MENTIONED WERE THE TEXTBOOKS.

THERE WAS VULGAR, HORRIBLE THINGS TO MAKE A PERSON BLUSH TO READ IN THESE TEXTBOOKS AND THAT CAUGHT THE SENATORS ATTENTION AND THEY EFFECTIVELY KILLED THE ANTI-EVOLUTION BILL BUT THEN THEY WENT AHEAD AND CREATED A RESOLUTION.

THIS FORMED A COMMITTEE OF A COUPLE OF SENATORS A COUPLE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

THEY WERE GOING TO GO TO ALL THE COLLEGES AND SEE WHAT KIND OF TEXTBOOKS ARE BEING USED AND SEE WHAT ALL THIS VULGAR STUFF WAS.

>>SENATOR SINGLETARY OF MARIANNA WOULD CHAIR THE INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE AND HE SOON CONTACTED PRESIDENT CONRADI WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COLLEGE.

BUT SINGLETARY DIDN'T SEEM AS INTERESTED IN EVOLUTION AS HE DID IN WHAT THE WOMEN WERE LEARNING ABOUT SEX.

HE ASKED WHERE SUBJECTS LIKE PROMISCUITY, MARRIAGE, AND FREUDIAN PSYCHOLOGY WERE COVERED IN CLASSES, TEXTBOOKS, OR ANY LIBRARY BOOKS.

THE SENATOR ALSO INFORMED CONRADI THAT HE DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE CONCEPT OF “ACADEMIC FREEDOM” AS BEING THE BEDROCK OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.

MEANWHILE, TATUM WAS ANXIOUS TO SEE WHAT SINGLETARY'S QUESTIONS UNCOVERED.

BUT SUMMER CAME AND WENT... AND SINGLETARY'S COMMITTEE REMAINED CURIOUSLY SILENT.

(SPLASH AT THE LAKE) NARRATOR: WHY?

IN HIS MEMOIRS, PROFESSOR BELLAMY DESCRIBES TAKING STATEMENTS FROM SEVERAL WOMEN AT FSCW DESCRIBING SINGLETARY'S “UNGENTLEMANLY BEHAVIOR” AT THE COLLEGE LAKESIDE CAMP NEAR TALLAHASSEE.

HE WRITES THAT ONE OF THE WOMEN HAD TO KICK SINGLETARY WHILE THEY WERE SWIMMING... TO STOP HIS UNWANTED ADVANCES.

BELLAMY SAYS HE TOOK THE WOMEN'S STATEMENTS TO AN UN-NAMED SENATOR SYMPATHETIC TO THE COLLEGE.

HE RECALLS THAT SUDDENLY... SINGLETARY WAS QUIET ON THE ISSUE OF SCIENCE CURRICULUM.

AND THE INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE THAT HE CHAIRED NEVER DID EXERCISE ITS AUTHORITY OVER TEXTBOOKS.

THIS MADE TATUM VERY ANGRY.

>>SO THEN THAT'S WHEN WE COME UP WITH THE FLORIDA PURITY LEAGUE.

SO HE WASN'T FOCUSED ON EVOLUTION, HE WAS MORE FOCUSED ON THE UN-AMERICAN ON THE UN-CHRISTIAN STUFF THAT WAS GOING ON, ALL THE HORRIBLE VULGAR THINGS ESPECIALLY BEING TAUGHT TO OUR YOUNG WOMEN IN THIS COLLEGE.

HE HAD A PARTICULAR INTEREST IN FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.

HE WAS CONSTANTLY GOING IN THERE MAKING LIFE KIND OF A HELL FOR CONRADI.

>>TATUM PUT TOGETHER A PAMPHLET CALLED PSYCHOANALYSIS OF FILTHY DREAMERS AND HE USED THIS TO ILLUSTRATE EXACTLY WHAT HE THOUGHT WAS GOING ON IN THE COLLEGES.

>>TATUM TOOK THE TITLE OF THE PAMPHLET FROM A PASSAGE IN THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLE: >>“LIKEWISE ALSO THESE FILTHY DREAMERS, DEFILE THE FLESH, DESPISE DOMINION, AND SPEAK EVIL OF DIGNITIES.” >>HIS FILTHY DREAMERS PAMPHLET MAKES VERY PERSONAL ACCUSATIONS AGAINST CONRADI AND SEVERAL PROFESSORS, CLAIMING AMONG OTHER THINGS THAT ATHEISM AND FREE LOVE WERE BEING TAUGHT AT FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.

TATUM MAILED 50-THOUSAND COPIES OF THE PAMPHLETS TO CITIZENS ACROSS FLORIDA.

>>HE ACTUALLY GAVE COPIES OF THESE TO YOUNG WOMEN IN THE UNIVERSITY WHO UNTIL THAT TIME HAD NOT BEEN AWARE THAT THESE BOOKS EXISTED, MUCH LESS THAT THEY HAD SALACIOUS PASSAGES IN THEM.

>>MEANWHILE, AT FLORIDA'S PUBLIC BLACK COLLEGE, FACULTY AND STAFF WERE QUIETLY INTEGRATING SUBJECTS SUCH AS CHEMISTRY AND EVOLUTION BACK INTO THE SCHOOL'S VOCATIONAL CURRICULUM.

MALE STUDENTS IN GAINESVILLE AND FEMALE STUDENTS IN TALLAHASSEE BEGAN PROTESTING THE ACTIONS OF TATUM AND THE LEAGUE.

BUT, TATUM'S ATTACKS ESCALATED AS HE ACCUSED PROFESSOR BELLAMY WITH ACTUALLY PROMOTING RACE-MIXING IN HIS CLASSROOM.

THAT'S WHEN STUDENTS BEGAN TO ORGANIZE A RESPONSE.

>>AT THIS TIME FSCW OR COLLEGES IN GENERAL THERE WOULDN'T BE OR HAVE BEEN THE KIND OF STUDENT ACTIVISM THAT WE NORMALLY THINK OF.

MOST OF IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THROUGH AUTHORIZED SOCIAL CHANNELS.

>>IN MAY, 1928, THE STUDENT GOVERNMENT AT FSCW PASSED A RESOLUTION DEFENDING ITS PROFESSORS AND UPHOLDING THE LESSONS TAUGHT IN THEIR CLASSROOMS.

>>THE CHARGE THAT THE THEORIES ARE BEING TAUGHT HERE THAT WILL UNDERMINE OUR CHRISTIAN BELIEF IS ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE AND A GROSS MISREPRESENTATION OF THE FACTS.

>>WE RESENT THE REFLECTION THESE CHARGES IMPLY AGAINST OUR CHARACTER, OUR IDEALS, AND OUR INTELLIGENCE AS YOUNG WOMEN.

>>WE REGRET THAT FLORIDA IS BY THESE FALSE CHARGES BEING HELD UP BEFORE THE WORLD TO SUCH RIDICULE.

>>THE STUDENTS' RESOLUTION ATTRACTED PUBLIC ATTENTION WHEN IT WAS PRINTED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE TALLAHASSEE NEWSPAPER.

>>BELLAMY LAUNCHED A CREDIBLE DEFENSE, DOCUMENTING HIS LECTURES AND BELIEFS... AND CORROBORATING STATEMENTS GIVEN BY HIS STUDENTS.

TALLAHASSEE CITIZENS ROSE UP IN SUPPORT OF FSCW... AGAINST TATUM.

>>HE HAS NO LOCAL STANDING!

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HAS PUBLICLY CALLED HIM AN “UNWELCOME STRANGER” AND TOLD HIM WHAT THEY THOUGHT OF HIS WORK.

THE CHURCH HAS ASKED HIM TO RESIGN FROM HIS POSITION AS DEACON!” >>THESE ACTIONS BY BELLAMY AND THE STUDENTS MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR TATUM.

HE HAD BECOME A LAUGHINGSTOCK AND AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE STATE.

>>FOR HIM THE SIMPLE FACT THAT THESE QUESTIONABLE TEXTS EXISTED IN THE UNIVERSITY AND WERE AVAILABLE FOR CIRCULATION AND THAT SOME OF THEM HAD BEEN TAUGHT IN CLASS WERE EVIDENCE ITSELF OF THE FACT THAT FSCW WAS CORRUPTING COLLEGE STUDENTS.

>>IN THE END, IT WAS TATUM'S OWN PAMPHLET, FILTHY DREAMERS, THAT BROUGHT HIS DOWNFALL.

AN EDITORIAL IN THE FLORIDA STATE NEWS SUGGESTED IT WAS ILLEGAL ON TWO COUNTS.

FIRST, IT CONTAINED STEAMY PASSAGES LIFTED DIRECTLY FROM BOOKS HE WANTED BANNED...

WITHOUT SEEKING COPYRIGHT PERMISSION FROM PUBLISHERS.

SECOND, THE PASSAGES WERE SO STEAMY, HE MIGHT BE PROSECUTED FOR DISTRIBUTING OBSCENE LITERATURE.

EVENTUALLY, A FEDERAL GRAND JURY DID INDICT TATUM FOR USING THE FEDERAL MAIL TO DISTRIBUTE FILTHY DREAMERS.

THE PAMPHLETS SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED... AND SO DID TATUM.

BUT ABOUT FOUR YEARS LATER... A COLUMN IN NORTH CAROLINA'S CHAPEL HILL WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTED A TIRADE MADE BY ONE L.A. TATUM AGAINST THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.

♪ MUSIC >>I HAVE A HARD TIME THINKING THAT FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS IN THE 1920S THEY WOULDN'T FEEL AS IF EVOLUTION WERE A PART OF A WAY OF EXPRESSING A NEW IDENTITY.

>>IF THEY TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN'T STUDY THAT'S A DICTATORSHIP.

I READ ANYTHING I WANTED.

I DIDN'T FEEL RESTRICTED, NO I DIDN'T.

>>TO ME, A FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IS TO PREPARE PEOPLE TO LIVE IN THE REST OF THEIR ADULT LIFE IN A WORLD IN WHICH THEY WON'T HAVE THE PROTECTIONS OF A TEACHER, CLASSMATES, CLASSROOM.

>>THE FIGHT FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM CONTINUES TODAY, WITH RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISTS OFTEN ARGUING THAT EVOLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE SHOULD BE TAUGHT AS THEORY, RATHER THAN FACT.

>>TODAY WE HAVE AN EVEN STRONGER GROUP CALLED THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS.

IT ISN'T A PERFECT SYSTEM.

IT STILL DEPENDS ON HUMAN BEINGS.

>>BY THE END OF WORLD WAR II, THE CONTROVERSY OVER TEXTBOOKS AND EVOLUTION AT FSCW WAS FADING INTO MEMORY.

AS SOLDIERS ON THE GI BILL ARRIVED ON THE NEWLY CO-EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS.

EDWARD CONRADI RETIRED AND FSCW BECAME FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY.

BUT THERE ARE STILL A FEW “FEMINA PERFECTA” WHO REMEMBER WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE ON CAMPUS FOR THE LADIES ONLY.

>>BUT WE WERE HAPPY THERE AND WE SOON GOT ACQAUINTED AND KNEW EACH OTHER AND GOT TO BE REALLY GOOD PALS.

>>THE FEELINGS THAT I REMEMBER HAVING WAS, I LOVE THIS PLACE.

I AM SO GLAD I AM HERE.

>>THE FILTHY DREAMERS WHO GRADUATED FROM FSCW IN 1929 ULTIMATELY GRADUATED FROM AN INSTITUTION THAT DID NOT PUT ANY RESTRICTIONS ON THEIR CURRICULUM.

THEY WENT ON TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE FUTURE OF FLORIDA.

>>HILDA ELIZABETH SIMMONS TAUGHT HIGH SCHOOL IN DEFUNIAK SPRINGS UNTIL THE DEPRESSION HIT, AND WALTON COUNTY SIMPLY STOPPED PAYING ITS TEACHERS.

>>SHE LEFT DEFUNIAK TO GO TO JACKSONVILLE TO STUDY TO BE A SECRETARY AND MY GOOD FORTUNE WAS ON THE BUS RIDE SHE HAPPENED TO END UP SITTING NEXT TO MY FATHER AND THEIR LIFE TOGETHER BEGAN ON THAT BUS RIDE FROM DEFUNIAK TO JACKSONVILLE.

>>KELLER HARRIS, AUTHOR OF “THE SORROWS OF THE EVE” WENT INTO A DECADES LONG CAREER AS A SUPERVISOR FOR THE RED CROSS IN PINELLAS COUNTY.

SHE PASSED AWAY IN 1979.

DR. RAYMOND BELLAMY ENJOYED A LONG AND STORIED CAREER AT FSCW AND LATER FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY.

IN 1941 HE WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE FLORIDA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.

BELLAMY BECAME A SYMBOL FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM THROUGHOUT THE CAMPUS AND IN 1967 THE UNIVERSITY PUT HIS NAME ON THE NEW SOCIAL SCIENCES BUILDING ALONG WITH THIS PLAQUE OF APPRECIATION.

HE DIED THREE YEARS LATER, AND HIS OBITUARY IN THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION CALLED HIM, “A MAN WHO LOVED TEACHING AND DID IT SUPERBLY.” ♪ MUSIC >>FUNDING FOR THE PRECEEDING PROGRAM WAS PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA COLLEGE OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES.

CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY THE UCF DEPPARTMENT OF ACCESS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF FUNDERS AND MORE EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS, VISIT OUR WESITE: FILTHYDREAMERSDOCUMENTARY.ORG.

THE PRECEEDING WAS A STUDENT AND FACULTY PRODUCTION OF THE UCF BURNETT HONORS COLLEGE.