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LA 122 & LA 205 - Communication and Public Speaking Resources: Finding Biographies

This guide will direct you to resources for public speaking, communications, and information on important speeches by public figures. This LibGuide might be helpful if you are taking LA 122 or LA 205.

Websites by Subject

Using valid websites is the quickest way to find information about a person (biography, autobiography, or memoir), or a group of people (collective biography).

Use the websites listed below to find biographies organized by subject. 

Black/African-American Leaders

Black History (Biography.com)       

BlackPast.org (Also has a large number of current biographies)

Digital Collections in African American History (From the Library of Congress)

Great Black Heroes (Important figures in Civil Rights, Education, Government & Science)

Women

National Women's History Museum (Explore historical women and contemporary newsmakers)

Women's History and Biography (Biography.com)

The Most Popular Biographies Of Women, According To Goodreads Members (Forbes.com)

General and Public Figures

The 100 Most Influential People in the World (Time.com - [NOTE: changes annually])

Biography.com (The largest of all the biography websites - a fine place to start your research)

Biography Base (Thousands of capsule-sized biographies of famous and less-well-known historical figures.)

The Famous People (1,000,000 humans ranked by "a wide spectrum of opinion." Good for basic facts.)

International Figures

100 People Who Changed the World (Biography Online) 

Nobel Prize Winners (Updated annually)

Biography Videos (PBS Learning Media) 

World Leaders Portal (Britannica.com)

Presidents and Politicians

WhiteHouse.Gov (Learn more about the 46 Presidents of the U.S.)

PresidentUSA.net (The most comprehensive website about the Presidents of the United States and the U.S. Presidency)

U.S. Presidents - History.com (Multimedia resources)

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress   (Biographies from the Continental Congress to the Present)

Criminal Justice Leaders

5 Influential Women in the History of Criminal Justice  (South University)

Famous Lawyers (BiographyOnline.com)

New York State Judicial Directory (New York Courts.gov)

Supreme Court of the United States (Biographies of current and retired justices)

Sport Figures

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (HOF Explorer helps search biographies of baseball's greatest)

Pro Football Hall of Fame (Professional biographies (not collegiate))

Hockey Hall of Fame (Biographies of players in both men's and women's hockey)

A Monroe College Research Guide

                THIS RESEARCH OR "LIBGUIDE" WAS PRODUCED BY THE LIBRARIANS OF MONROE COLLEGE