The 4th of July brings out orators of all stripes, and over the past two centuries many distinguished Americans have seen fit to offer their own encomia on this day. This lovely collection from 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...

The power of the spoken word, especially when well-delivered and articulated, is immense; and this archive of speeches and rhetoric, developed and maintained by Michael E. Eidenmuller, (an assistant professor of communications at the University of Texas at Tyler) is an excellent way to delve into this subject. The core of the site is a truly comprehensive online speech bank that contains over 5000...

American Radio Works has produced a number of provocative and thoughtful radio documentaries (which are also available online), and this latest addition is truly no exception. Visitors to the site should begin by reading how the two creators of the documentary (Kate Ellis and Stephen Smith) selected these particular speeches, which is a rather interesting statement in itself. Visitors to the site...

Upon hearing about a site dedicated to State of the Union speeches, the eyes (and mousse) of some gentle readers may gravitate elsewhere. That would be a tremendous mistake in the case of this fine site, which presents graphical representations of how specific words have been used in these speeches over the years. Created by Brad Borevitz, the site draws on a number of open resources available on...