Notable Speeches and Addresses by U.S. Women, 1849–present

Susan B. Anthony

On Women's Right to Vote
Monroe County, N.Y., 1873

Mary McLeod Bethune

What Does American Democracy Mean to Me?
New York, N.Y., Nov. 23, 1939

Barbara Bush

Commencement Address: Choices and Change
Wellesley College, Mass., June 1, 1990

Carrie Chapman Catt

The Crisis
Atlantic City, N.J., 1916

Shirley Chisholm

Equal Rights For Women
Washington, DC, May 21, 1969

Mary Church Terrell

What It Means to be Colored in the Capital of the United States
Washington, DC, Oct. 10, 1906

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Women's Rights Are Human Rights; UN Fourth World Conference on Women
Beijing, China, Sept. 5, 1995

Geraldine Ferraro

Speech accepting the Democratic Vice-Presidential Nomination
San Francisco, Calif., July 19, 1984

Mary Fisher

Address to the Republican National Convention: A Whisper of AIDS
Houston, Tex., Aug. 19, 1992

Related Links

• Women's History Month
• Timeline: U.S. Women's Rights Movement
• Women's Hall of Fame
• Famous Firsts by American Women

Biographies

• Susan B. Anthony
• Mary McLeod Bethune
• Barbara Bush
• Carrie Chapman Catt
• Shirley Chisholm
• Mary Church Terrell
• Hillary Rodham Clinton
• Geraldine Ferraro
• Emma Goldman
• Fannie Lou Hamer
• Anita Hill
• Mother Jones
• Barbara Jordan
• Helen Keller
• Florence Kelley
• Ursula LeGuin
• Lucretia Mott
• Ann Richards
• Eleanor Roosevelt
• Margaret Sanger
• Anna Howard Shaw
• Margaret Chase Smith
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton
• Lucy Stone
• Sojourner Truth
• Ida B. Wells

Emma Goldman

Address to the Jury
New York, N.Y., July 9, 1917

Fannie Lou Hamer

Democratic National Convention Speech
Atlantic City, N.J., July 22, 1964

Anita Hill

Opening Statement: Sexual Harrassment Hearings
Washington, DC, Oct. 11, 1991

Mother Jones

Labor Speech to Coal Miners
Charlestown, West Virginia, Aug. 15, 1912

Barbara Jordan

Statement on the Articles of Impeachment to the House Judiciary Committee
Washington, DC, July 25, 1974

Speech at the Democratic National Convention
New York, N.Y., July 12, 1976

Helen Keller

Strike Against War
New York, N.Y., Jan. 5, 1916

Florence Kelley

On Child Labor and Women's Suffrage
Philadelphia, Pa., July 22, 1905

Ursula LeGuin

A Left-Handed Commencement Address
Mills College, Mills College, Oakland, Calif., 1983

Lucretia Mott

Discourse On Woman
Philadelphia, Pa., December 17, 1849

Ann Richards

Democratic National Convention Address
Atlanta, Ga., July 18, 1988

Eleanor Roosevelt

Speech on civil liberties to the members of the ACLU
Chicago, Ill., Mar. 14, 1940

The Struggle for Human Rights
Paris, France; Sept 28, 1948

Margaret Sanger

The Morality of Birth Control
Park Theatre, N.Y., Nov. 18, 1921

Anna Howard Shaw

The Fundamental Principle of a Republic
Ogdenburg, N.Y., June 21, 1915

Margaret Chase Smith

Declaration of Conscience
Washington, DC, June 1, 1950

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The Solitude of Self
U.S. Congress, Washington, DC, Jan. 18, 1892

Declaration of Sentiments
Seneca Falls, New York, 1848

Lucy Stone

The Progress of Fifty Years
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893

Sojourner Truth

Ain't I a Woman?
Women's Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio, 1851

Ida B. Wells

NAACP Speech Against Lynching
Baltimore, Md., Feb. 12, 1909

Sheila Widnall

Digits of Pi: Barriers and Enablers for Women in Engineering
S.E. Regional NAE Meeting GA Tech, April 26, 2000