Historic Documents and Speeches

Collections of Historic Documents at UNT

Documents of American History, edited by Henry Steele Commager.
E173 D59 1988 (In General Reference, Willis Library)

Includes significant documents since 1492. Indexed by topic and personal name.

Historic Documents (Annual from Congressional Quarterly).
E839.5 H57 (In General Reference, Willis Library)

Chronological arrangement of statements, court decisions, reports, special studies, speeches, with brief introduction for each giving background, source, frequently a short summary, and indication of subsequent events. 5-year cumulative indexes.

For other sources of historic documents, consult the UNT Library Catalog or ask at a service desk in General Reference or in Government Documents, Willis Library.

Collections of Speeches at UNT

World's Best Orations: From the Earliest Time to the Present Time, edited by David Josiah Brewer and others.
808.5 B75w (Fourth Floor, Willis Library)

Arranged alphabetically by author. Gives for each a brief biographical sketch and selected orations. Indexes orators, subjects, periods, events.

Representative American Speeches (Annual).
PS668 .B3 (Third Floor, Willis Library)

Representative speeches of the year.

Vital Speeches of the Day (Semi-Monthly).
PN6121.V52 (In Periodicals/Microforms, Willis Library)

Prints in full the important addresses of contemporary leaders of public opinion in the fields of economics, politics, education, sociology, business, labor, etc.; heavy representation from government and big business.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (Annual).
GS 4.113: [1929-1984]; AE 2.114: [1984-present] (In Government Documents, Willis Library)

Includes public messages and statements of the presidents since Hoover. Selected presidents are now available on the Internet through the Office of the Federal Register site and through the individual Presidential Libraries.

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
AE 2.109: (In Government Documents, Willis Library)

Transcripts of the president's news conferences, messages to Congress, public speeches, and statements, and other presidential materials released by the White House up to 5 p.m. on each Friday. Annual index.

For other sources of speeches, consult the UNT Library Catalog or ask at a service desk in General Reference or in Government Documents, Willis Library.

Collections of Historic Documents and Speeches on the Internet

Mostly Foreign or International

The Historical Text Archive (Don Mabry)

Primary and secondary historical resources arranged by geographical region and by topic.

National Constitutions (Constitution Society)

Constitutions of the nations of the world, in English when available.

Mostly U.S.

AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of U.S. History (WWW Virtual Library)

Extensive collection of historic documents and speeches from pre-Columbian times to the present, grouped by time period.

American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library (U.S. Library of Congress)

Over 50 multimedia collections of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, moving pictures, and text from the Library's Americana collections. (Includes an extensive collection of slave narratives, as well as presidential papers.)

Avalon Project (Yale Law School)

Digital documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government. Many documents are supplemented with links to supporting documents referred to in the body of the text.

A Chronology of U.S. Historical Documents (University of Oklahoma Law Center)

Extensive collection of historic documents and speeches from pre-colonial times to the present, arranged in chronological order.

Documenting the American South (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

This electronic collection provides access to digitized primary materials of government and CSA military documents, as well as private papers that offer Southern perspectives on American history and culture. Browse the title index for specific documents or search the entire collection.

Historic Documents and Speeches (Washburn University School of Law)

Small selection of famous documents and presidential speeches (mostly inaugural addresses).

Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (Thurgood Marshall Law Library, University of Maryland)

Digitized editions of all US Commission on Civil Rights publications held in the Thurgood Marshall Law Library's collection, browseable by title, date, subject, and SuDoc number. Includes publications from 1957–2001.

History and Politics Out Loud (Northwestern University)

A searchable, multimedia database, mainly of famous speeches from American history and politics (requires the free, RealPlayer plug-in from Real Networks or the free QuickTime plug-in from Apple Computer).

Our Documents — 100 Milestones from American History (National History Day, NARA, and USA Freedom Corps)

This site "invites all Americans to participate in a series of events and programs to get us thinking, talking and teaching about the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our democracy." Students, teachers, parents, and the general public are encouraged to read these 100 milestone documents, consider their meaning, discuss them, and decide which are the most significant and why. The Web site provides opportunities to participate in classroom activities, competitions, and votes.