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Speeches
Looking for articles on a topic related to speeches? Search in the recommended databases listed below.
Need help? Visit our Get Started Researching page that will guide you through the process of finding articles using library resources, or Get Help by Email, Phone, or Chat. You can also get assistance from a librarian specializing in your research area.
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Useful Websites
Abraham Lincoln Online: Speeches and Writings
Collection of various quotations, speeches, writings, and documents from Abraham Lincoln.
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American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election
Collection of audio recordings of speakers from the WWI era and the 1920 election conducted by the Nation Forum project.
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American Rhetoric
Database of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events.
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The Avalon Project (Yale Law School)
Collection of documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government. Avalon documents have referenced materials in the text linked as well.
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Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches from Around the World
Non-profit project dedicated to preserving and providing access to speeches from influential, contemporary women around the world. As of 2017, the site provides access to nearly 700 speeches.
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History Channel: Famous Speeches and Audio
Provides access to video clips of speeches from the History Channel website.
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U.S. Presidential Inaugurations: "I Do Solemnly Swear" Resource Guide
Library of Congress resource that provides diaries and letters written by presidents and those who witnessed the inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music.
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Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States
Inaugural addresses available from President Washington through President Trump.
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Library of Congress
Homepage for the Library of Congress, the U.S.'s first established cultural institution and the largest library in the world. Provides digital access to many resources.
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Vincent Voice Library
The G. Robert Vincent Voice Library is a collection of over 100,000 hours of spoken word recordings, dating back to 1888. The collection includes the voices of over 500,000 persons from all walks of life. Political and cultural leaders and minor players in the human drama are captured and cataloged to serve the research needs of a local, national and international user base. Clients include students and faculty of Michigan State University, other scholars and researchers, broadcasting networks, news agencies and film, video, and Web production companies.
[More details]Searching for Speeches
Speeches other types of oral communicaion can be primary sources of great importance to researchers in the fields of history, communication, religion and related disciplines. This guide identifies and describes some of the most significant indexing tools and full-text sources of speeches.
Suggested searches:
- "i have a dream"
- churchill and speech*
- reagan and challenger and speech*
- "susan b anthony" and speech*
- "sojourner truth" and speech*
- "barbara jordan" and (rhetoric* or speech* or orat*)
- kennedy and inaugura*
- "elizabeth i" and armada
- "martin luther king" and (speech* or rhetoric*)
- gehrig and (speech* or address*)
- "malcolm x" and (speech* or rhetoric*)
Search this database for transcripts or recordings of important speeches:
Historical Newspapers
This collection of historical newspapers provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Includes:
[More details]Search the Library Catalog
To search in the library catalog for books, videos, DVDs, CDs, and other library materials containing speeches, try these searches:
Suggested Keyword Searches in the Catalog
- speeches
- speeches and criticism
- speeches or rhetoric
- (speech* or rhetoric*) and president*
- (speech* or rhetoric*) and america*
- (speech* or rhetoric*) and "martin luther king"
- (jfk or "john f kennedy") and speech*
- "margaret thatcher" and speech*
- "civil right*" and (speech* or rhetoric*)
- politic* and speech* and criticism
Suggested Subject Search in the Catalog
- Speeches Addresses Etc
- Speeches Addresses Etc American
- Speeches Addresses Etc American 20th Century
- Speeches Addresses Etc American History And Criticism
- SpeechesAddresses Etc English
- Speeches Addresses Etc English History And Criticism
- Orators
- African American Orators
- Oratory
- Oratory Ancient
- King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968 -- Oratory
- Oratory Reagan Ronald -- Oratory
- Oratory United States History
Books of speeches
American orators of the twentieth century : critical studies and sourcesPN4193.P6 A44 1987
Landmark American speeches V. 1-3PS662 .L36