Guides: Communication: Finding Speeches Online

Databases with Speeches

Business Source Complete
Contains the journal Vital Speeches from 1934-present.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context

Information on social issues including articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, interactive maps, videos, and streaming audio.

Web Resources for Speeches

American Rhetoric: Online repository for wide-range of speeches, from politics to movies to sermons.

Vote Smart: Website with speeches from current local and national political candidates and officials.

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents: HathiTrust database of documents from the Office of the Federal Register, 1965-present.

UVA Miller Center
The Miller Center is a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia that specializes in presidential scholarship, public policy, and political history. This website includes a famous speech from every U.S. president.

Videos of Speeches

The library owns some speeches on video. To search these videos use the Library Catalog.

Example: I need a video of Martin Luther King giving his "I Have a Dream" speech.

        -    Go to the Library Catalog
        -    Select Advanced Search
        -    Select Keyword from the Search Index pull-down menu
        -    Type "I have a dream" on the first line (Include the quotation marks so the exact phrase will be searched)
        -    Scroll down to the Format pull-down menu and select Video
        -    Click on the search button

You can also access The Great Speeches: The Presidents at Payson Library, and The Great Speeches video collection through Interlibrary Loan.

More recent speeches can be found online through:

Print Resources for Speeches

Search the online catalog to find speeches given by a specific person. Try Kennedy AND speeches or Reagan AND speeches, for instance.

Speeches of the American Presidents by Janet Podell (Editor); Steven Anzovin (Editor); John Little (Introduction by)
Call Number: REFERENCE (NO CIRC) PN4055.U53 P646 2001

ISBN: 0824210069

Publication Date: 2001-01-01

Presents more than 200 major speeches by 43 U.S. presidents, from Washington through George W. Bush.
Great Speeches for Criticism and Analysis by Lloyd E. Rohler (Editor); Roger Cook (Editor)
Call Number: REFERENCE (NO CIRC) PN6122 .G74 2001

ISBN: 1889388076

Publication Date: 2001-01-01

Contains literal transcripts of the greatest speakers' greatest speeches from The Great Speeches Video Series as well as commentary from many leading scholars.
American Rhetoric from Roosevelt to Reagan by Halford R. Ryan
Call Number: PS668 .A43 1987

ISBN: 0881332771

Publication Date: 1987-03-01

American speeches and essays from 1933-1987.
Contemporary American Public Discourse by Halford R. Ryan
Call Number: LIMITED PUBLIC ACCESS PLACE REQUESTS ONLINE COMPACT SHELVING (AREA M) PS668 .C58 1992

ISBN: 0881336297

Publication Date: 1992-01-01

This expansive collection provides students with the two essential elements they need in order to master contemporary public address, rhetorical criticism, and persuasion: significant speeches and critical essays written by rhetorical scholars. This collection of 37 speeches and 12 essays is an excellent resource, offering the texts of timely and interesting discourse!
Voices of Multicultural America by Deborah Gillan Straub (Editor)
Call Number: LIMITED PUBLIC ACCESS PLACE REQUESTS ONLINE COMPACT SHELVING (AREA OS) PS663.M55 V64 1996

ISBN: 0810393786

Publication Date: 1995-10-01

The speechs of more than 130 prominent Americans are gathered in this compilation, representing the leaders and others from four major ethnic groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native North Americans.
Immigration by Michelle Houle (Editor)
Call Number: JV6450 .I5565 2004

ISBN: 0737718757

Publication Date: 2003-08-29

Immigration brings to life voices from the great debates on immigration. The historical fluctuation of public sentiment toward immigration and immigrants is related through speeches from key figures such as Carl Schurz, Jane Addams, and Henry Cabot Lodge. This anthology covers the different waves of American immigration with a wide range of perspectives on how immigrants have affected and continue to affect the United States.
The Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mark Rackers (Editor)
Call Number: DS119.7 .A67195 2004

ISBN: 0737716495

Publication Date: 2004-05-17

While the territory in dispute can be traveled in half a day, the Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the most complex and bloody geo-political crises in the world today. This anthology examines speeches by key players from many different countries who have attempted to either excite, temper, or extinguish the violence that has plagued the lives of so many over the last century.
Terrorism by Deborah A. Miller (Editor)
Call Number: West L.A. Campus Library HV6431 .T4568 2003

ISBN: 0737718722

Publication Date: 2003-05-21

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon brought terror to America's front door and caused U.S. President George Bush to declare "war on terrorism." The speeches in this anthology illustrate the use of terror throughout history, from a range of perspectives.