The Nation's Forum Collection consists of fifty-nine sound recordings of speeches by American leaders from 1918-1920. The speeches focus on issues and events surrounding the First World War and the subsequent presidential election of 1920. Speakers include: Warren G. Harding, James Cox, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Samuel Gompers, Henry Cabot Lodge, and John J. Pershing. Speeches range from one to five minutes.
The American Presidency Project is the only online resource that has consolidated, coded, and organized into a single searchable database:
• The Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Washington - Taft (1789-1913)
• The Public Papers of the Presidents:
Hoover to G.W. Bush (1929-2007)
& Obama (2010-Book I)
• The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents:
Carter - G.W. Bush (1977-2009)
• The Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents:
Obama (2009-2012)
• The archives also contain thousands of other documents such as party platforms, candidates' remarks, Statements of Administration Policy, documents released by the Office of the Press Secretary, and election debates.
Database of and index to 5000+ full text, audio and video versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events, and a declaration or two. Special lists are available for certain categories: e.g., Top 100 Speeches, Movie Speeches, Obama Speeches, etc.
Compiled by University of Texas professor, Michael Eidenmuller.
This database includes speeches, interviews, etc., by Fidel Castro from 1959 to 1996. All texts are in English. If you would like more recent speeches or texts in Spanish, please consult Discursos e Intervenciones de Fidel Castro, which has texts in a variety of languages starting with 1998, Discursos: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, or Discursos y otras intervenciones de Fidel Castro.
Close to 70 speeches on video or audio by prominent US and world leaders.
Recreates speeches from revolutionary orators and leaders such as Angela Davis and Nelson Mandela, Figures of Speech "uses the power of performance to explore big political and social ideas."
The University of Missouri's Ellis Library brings together published pamphlets made on Independence Day from 1791 to 1925. The speeches take a look at crucial topics from this time period, including civic duty, religion, national politics, and the Civil War.
Gifts of Speech is a non-profit project, sponsored by Sweet Briar College, dedicated to preserving and creating access to speeches by inspirational, influential and contemporary, women from around the world. As of 2011 the site hosted nearly 700 speeches from women all over the world.
A source for short clips from famous political and historical events and popular culture. Speeches are listed thematically and a separate search box allow more specific searching.
The official site for the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economic Studies. Many of the Banquet Speeches can be found by looking under the link for Nobel Prizes and Laureates, selecting the individuals, and then links to their speeches.
The Scripps Library, through cooperation with various presidential libraries, has been collecting some of the most important presidential speeches in American history. These speeches all have transcripts, and some are available in their entirety in audio or video.
Say it Plain, Say it Loud: A Century of Great African American Speeches
Public speech making has played a powerful role in the long struggle by African Americans for equal rights. This collection, for the ear and the eye, highlights speeches by an eclectic mix of black leaders.
A focused list of speeches on social justice. Part of the EdChange site, founded by Ed Gorski, professor at George Mason University and established by a group of educators dedicated to equity, diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice.
Summaries and full text of ten great speeches from Socrates to Ronald Reagan.
The Voices of Democracy project is designed to promote the study of great speeches and public debates. The emphasis of the project is on the actual words of those who, throughout American history, have defined the country’s guiding principles, debated the great social and political controversies of the nation’s history, and shaped the identity and character of the American people.
VOD is an online resource for curricular materials organized around seven deliberative themes: Citizenship & Civic Identity ¦ Civil Rights ¦ Freedom of Speech ¦ Religion & Morality in Public Life ¦ Social & Economic Justice ¦ U.S. Internationalism ¦ War & Peace
Last updated February 2022.
