The Eloquent Woman Index of Famous Women's Speeches

At the beginning of 2011, The Eloquent Woman blog launched a new weekly feature called "Famous Speech Friday," designed to answer a question I kept getting from speakers, trainees and speaker coaches: "Where can I find examples of great women's speeches?" Often, they'd add that they could only find examples from long-past speeches from the most famous of women speakers, like Eleanor Roosevelt or Barbara Jordan.

Now we have 100 speeches and counting collected here as The Eloquent Woman Index of Famous Women's Speeches, and the roster includes everyone from Eleanor Roosevelt to Lady Gaga. Every speech here is famous in some way, even if the speaker is not, and most of them include commentary on women's issues. You'll find tips on what you can learn from each of these speeches, along with transcripts, audio or video whenever it's available. The entries are below, arranged alphabetically by the speaker's first name. In 2013, we'll be adding posts that collect speeches on this list by type of speaker, topic and other slices of the index, to make it more useful to you. I welcome your suggestions for future famous speech examples by women, at info[at]dontgetcaught[dot]biz.

Entries by type of speech:

8 famous commencement speeches by women
6 famous extemporaneous speeches by women

Entries by type of speaker:
14 famous speeches by African-American women speakers
6 famous speeches by women scientists

Entries by topic:
7 famous speeches by women about health
6 famous speeches about voting by women speakers
13 famous UK and European speeches by women

Entries by name of speaker:

1. Ai-Jen Poo at the United States Social Forum
2. Aimee Semple McPherson's speech in a speakeasy
3. Amelia Earhart's "A Woman's Place in Science"
4. Anita Hill's Senate testimony about Clarence Thomas
5. Anita Sarkeesian on online harrassment
6. Ann Richards's 1988 Democratic Convention keynote
7. Annie Oakley's libel cases and courtroom speeches
8. Aung San Suu Kyi's "Freedom from Fear" speech
9. Barbara Jordan's Democratic Convention keynote
10. Betty Ford's 1975 speech to the American Cancer Society
11. Betty Friedan's call for a women's strike
12. Carol Bartz's commencement speech, "Embrace failure"
13. Carol Bartz's keynote at the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration
14. Caroline Kennedy's eulogy for Edward Kennedy
15. Chelsea Clinton's "Running in Heels" panel moderation
16. Christine Lagarde at the Global Women's Forum
17. Clara Barton's Andersonville testimony
18. Coretta Scott King's "10 Commandments on Vietnam"
19. Debbi Fields on building your small business
20. Devon Brooks talks about her sexual assault
21. Princess Diana and the ban on landmines
22. Diana Nyad at TEDMED on dreams, determination and defeat
23. Diane Kelly on what we don't know about penis anatomy
24. Edwidge Danticat's testimony on death in detention
25. Eleanor Roosevelt and the Declaration of Human Rights
26. Eleanor Roosevelt's 1940 convention-saving speech
27. Elisabeth Murdoch's lecture to the UK television industry
28. Elizabeth I's speech to the troops at Tilbury
29. Elizabeth II tribute to Princess Diana 
30. Elizabeth Glazer's speech on AIDS to the 1992 Democratic National Convention
31. Elyn Saks on her schizophrenia: "Please do send flowers"
32. Emmeline Pankhurst's "Freedom or Death"
33. Dame Enid Lyon's "Strike a Human Heart" speech
34. Evita Peron's 1951 Renunciamiento
35. Fannie Lou Hamer's 1964 convention committee testimony
36. Frances Perkins on the roots of Social Security
37. Francine Wheeler's radio address on gun control reform
38. Gabrielle Giffords's resignation from Congress
39. Geraldine Ferraro's 1984 acceptance speech
40. Rep. Gwen Moore on abortion rights and family planning
41. Heidi Damon faces her attacker in court
42. Helen Keller: "Strike Against War" and "I am not dumb now"
43. Hillary Clinton's concession speech
44. Hillary Clinton's "women's rights are human rights" speech
45. Hillary Clinton's 2012 statement on the 9/11 killings of Americans in Libya
46. Ida B. Wells's 1909 "This Awful Slaughter"
47. Jackie Kennedy's 1962 televised tour of the White House
48. Rep. Jackie Speier on abortion and family planning services
49. Jane Fonda's TEDxWomen talk on "Life's Third Act"
50. Jane Goodall's "What Separates Us from the Apes"
51. Jennifer Granholm's 2005 tribute to Rosa Parks
52. TV anchor Jennifer Livingston on her weight
53. Jill Bolte Taylor's "stroke of insight" TED talk
54. Julia Child's "The French Chef" cooking demos
55. Juliette Gordon Low's 1924 Girl Scouts speech
56. Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard at ANZAC Day
57. Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard's speech on misogyny
58. Kavita Krishnan on safety and India's rape culture
59. Kayla Kearney comes out to her high school assembly
60. Lady Bird Johnson's 1964 whistlestop tour 
61. Lady Gaga's speech at Rome Europride
62. Lucille Ball at her Variety Club tribute
63. Manal al-Sharif on the Drive to Freedom
64. Margaret Edson's 2008 Smith College commencement speech
65. Margaret Sanger, The Children's Era 
66. Margaret Chase Smith's 1950 Declaration of Conscience
67. Margaret Thatcher's "Iron Lady" speech
68. Maria Shriver on "The Power of the Pause"
69. Marie Colvin's eulogy for fallen war correspondents
70. Mary Fisher's speech on AIDS to the 1992 Republican National Convention
71. Mary Roach on 10 things you didn't know about orgasm
72. Rep. Maureen Walsh's speech on gay marriage
73. Maya Angelou's eulogy for Coretta Scott King
74. Michelle Obama's 2012 Democratic National Convention speech
75. Michelle Obama's speech to young African women leaders
76. Mother Jones Speaks to Striking West Virginia Miners in 1912
77. Mother Teresa at the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast
78. Myrlie Evers-Williams's 2013 inaugural invocation
79. Nellie McClung's "Should Men Vote?" speech
80. Nora Ephron's commencement address at Wellesley College
81. Phyllis Diller on comedy at the 92nd Street Y
82. Phyllis Rodriguez & Aicha el-Wafi on 9/11 forgiveness 
83. Phyllis Schlafly's "What's Wrong with Equal Rights for Women?"
84. Rachel Carson's "A New Chapter to Silent Spring"
85. Rose Schneiderman on the Triangle Fire
86. Ruth Reichl on not becoming her mother
87. Sally Field at the 2012 Human Rights Campaign dinner
88. Sally Ride's "Shoot for the Stars"
89. Sandra Day O'Connor on "Portia's Progress"
90. Severn Suzuki's 1992 UN Earth Summit speech
91. Sheila Widnall on women in engineering
92. Sheryl Sandberg's Barnard commencement address
93. Shirley Chisholm introduces the Equal Rights Amendment
94. Sojourner Truth "Ain't I a Woman?"
95. Sophie Gustafson on stuttering as "part of who I am"
96. Susan B. Anthony's "Is it a crime for a U.S. citizen to vote?"
97. Minister Teresa MacBain's "I am an Atheist"
98. Tilda Swinton's "David Bowie Is" speech
99. Ursula K. Leguin's "Left-handed commencement address"
100. Ursula K. Leguin's "We are volcanoes"
101. Viola Davis: "What keeps me in the business is hope"
102. Viola Davis's commencement speech "Go on and live!"
103. Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" lectures
104. Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai's hummingbird fable
105. Wilma Mankiller on rebuilding the Cherokee Nation