It's fascinating to think about what informed that hostility to evolutionary theory, though. Bryan lived through the advent of Social Darwinism and its justification of rampant abuses of underclassmen in our country. He was wrong about the science, but not wrong about the societal context.

Sure, but he was an anti imperialist, concerned about the growing power of finance, and hated eugenics (though he supported Jim Crow). He hit more than he missed, especially for the 1800s/early 1900s.