With the publication of this book, the Reverend Anna Howard Shaw assumes her rightful place in the pantheon of great American orators. Beginning with a brief introduction and a biographical sketch, the book traces Shaw's career and work as a public lecturer. Because of its significance in her later life, Shaw's training and brief tenure as a pastor and the sermons she delivered at suffrage meetings are also considered. The impact of her work as a paid lecturer for temperance and other causes--which led directly to her commitment to work full time for suffrage--her suffrage campaigns, and...

As Americans moved from farms and small towns to large cities, they tended to lose a hallmark of their earlier life: comparatively direct participation in the discourse of pragmatic affairs. The ubiquitous radio, which became a primary medium of communication during the Great Depression, tended to make Americans listeners more than speakers about important issues. Nevertheless, as the economic catastrophe of the time evoked desires in people to express their hopes and fears for the future, Americans nevertheless tended to be reticent. They instead bestowed leadership on speakers who...