January 2024

Although there are several older documentaries about Cochran’s aviation career and one short film about Saund, Saund vs Cochran is unique in its exploration of the political competition between these two candidates. It is based on two years of original research and will present never-before-seen audiovisual materials.

I have started working with radio and television archives to find footage, audio interviews, photographs, and other visual materials in order to tell this story.

This is a time-consuming and laborious process because Saund is not listed in the metadata in these archives. Additionally, materials from the 1950s were not often preserved by their copyright owners. I am searching widely in the National Archives, The Library of Congress, museums, and in other collections.

We have already found some amazing never-before-seen footage of Saund and of Cochran. This includes both of them campaigning door to door and speaking with voters in their district, a U.S. government interview with Saund conducted shortly after he was elected, and a meeting with Prime Minister Nehru in December of 1956, and more!

In addition to broad searches, our newspaper articles have mentioned over 78 radio and television appearances that we will now look for.

Wish us luck and good fortune!

CALL TO ACTION: Please consider making a tax-deductible donation here to support the research required to visit these archives and to obtain copies of these visual materials.