Gilbert and Strawbridge interviewed former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell ’54, H’83 as part of their documentary “From Conflict to Compromise.”
Two eighth graders from Portland have won a national award for a documentary they produced about the Northern Ireland peace process. WGME/CBS 13 reports that Matthew Gilbert and Don Strawbridge from Greely Middle School spent hundreds of hours researching Bowdoin’s George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, as well as interviewing Mitchell himself. Their efforts were rewarded with first place in the junior category of the National History Day documentary contest, which drew 40,000 entries from across the country.
The students plan to donate their film, From Conflict to Compromise, and their entire interview with Mitchell, to the Bowdoin College library. Former US Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell ’54, H’83 is regarded as the foremost architect of the 1998 Northern Ireland peace accord, which brought an end to nearly thirty years of troubles in the province.
