Audiovisual Materials, 1972-2001

Records in this group encompass Cohen's career in the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate and the Department of Defense. Included here are 755 videocassette recordings of Cohen's speeches, television interviews, his own radio and television broadcasts, and his statements from the floor of the House and the Senate. Also included are 16 mm. film reels, audiocassette tapes, reel-to-reel tapes and early videotape formats, created to communicate information about Cohen and the issues and events with which he was involved. Original film, video and audio elements used to create election campaign advertisements form the core of the collections, while the majority of the VHS tapes are reference copies documenting his activities in other broadcast venues.

The audiovisual materials are divided into three series by format and arranged within each series by function. Film reels comprise approximately 65,000 ft. from 1972 to 1984 of silent and sound 16 mm. film as original shots for ads and completed television spots. Audio recordings on 12 cassettes and 63 reels from 1972 to 1992 reflect similar campaign material as well as some of Cohen's own radio broadcasts for constituents in Maine. Videotapes are grouped by format: 2-inch wide tapes are 21 reels of campaign ads from 1972 and 1978 with reference copies on DVD and VHS; 1-inch wide tapes (41) from 1983 to 1991, 3/4 in. wide Umatic (46) from 1974 to 2001, and Betacam tapes (57) from 1989 to 1999 are a combination of original campaign footage, news clips and duplication masters for campaign materials in film; and VHS tapes (755) are reference/viewing copies organized into categories such as campaign, speeches, hearings, interviews, news clips, floor statements and Department of Defense.