Many political leaders of the day took advantage of the Chautauqua crowds to share their views with the populace.  William Jennings Bryan, a presidential candidate, spoke many times at the Lake Madison Chautauqua.  His most famous speech was the Cross of Gold.  Booker T. Washington also gave his famous speech, Up From Slavery at the Lake Madison Chautauqua.

Students today can appreciate the inspiring words of you forefather by reading aloud from some of their famous speeches.  Hold an oral interpretation contest by having students choose an excerpt form one of the following speeches to read to the class.

An excellent resource for students and teachers is Great American Speeches by PBS.  There are many audio clips available.

• Patrick Henry's Speech to the Virginia Convention - Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death
• Abraham Lincoln - 1st Inaugural Address, Address at Gettysburg, 2nd Inaugural Address
• Robert E. Lee - Farewell to The Army
• Crazy Horse's Last Words
• Franklin D. Roosevelt - Four Freedom's Speech
  • Norman Rockwell's Freedom from Want
• John F. Kennedy - Inaugural Address (with audio)
• Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream
  • audio clips

Online resources

• Public Speaking