We are looking for statistical documentation of the popularity of
Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens' so-called "cornerstone
speech" given in March of 1861. Specifically, we are interested in how
many people actually heard the speech in Savannah, Georgia, how many
copies were reprinted across the south, and where on the internet we
could find newspaper accounts describing popular reaction to the
speech.

Narrative --

As you're probably aware, a search using:
"Alexander Stephens" + Savannah

turns up about 400 links.  Several refer to the crowd at the
Athenaeum, so you could get a good estimate of how many were present:
http://www.pointsouth.com/csanet/greatmen/stephens/stephens-corner.html

I'd strongly suggest looking in two places:
*  academic and semi-private databases (Infotrac, Expanded Academic
ASAP, Proquest Historical newspapers).  These are general available
online at major libraries.  I checked the Proquest New York Times
index and it doesn't have a mention of the speech in March -- though
it may have appeared later.  Note that Proquest has recently finished
its indexing of the Washington Post.
*  combing microfilm and other archives of leading newspapers of the
time, particularly in the south.

As you implement this search, a suggestion is to use the "Savannah
Republican" as a search term.  Newspapers during this era shared
reports of major events widely without copyright implications.  When
they did, they generally credited the original source in the byline.

Good luck,

Omnivorous-GA