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NPR Launches “Best Commencement Speeches, Ever”

NPR Ed presents database of 300+ addresses from 1774 to present

NPR Ed — the public media organization’s new team covering learning and education has launched its online hub with a celebration what it considers the best graduation speeches: “The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever.”

This feature is an interactive database containing more than 300 speeches dating from the present to 1774. Speakers include celebrities, actors and entrepreneurs, writers and politicians; the database is searchable by speaker, college, year and theme with links to the full versions of each speech and videos when available. The site also allows users to export a graphic featuring a quote for any of the speeches.

This project continues NPR Ed’s reporting, which recently included a series on Tulsa, Okla.’s early education system, the impact of the Common Core and updates on the impact of saving for college. Other recent stories have focused on Vermont and Miami.

With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Wallace Foundation to expand education coverage, NPR assembled a multidisciplinary team of radio and digital journalists to cover the topic. That team is led by editor Steve Drummond and includes bloggers Juana Summers and Anya Kamenetz; NPR education correspondents Eric Westervelt and Claudio Sanchez, associate producer Sami Yenigun and senior editor Cory Turner, working also with NPR editorial strategist Matt Thompson and visual journalists including NPR’s photo and video producer John Poole.

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