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Student’s project to air on ‘Montel’

A University of Wisconsin sophomore is appearing today on “The Montel Williams Show” to discuss a documentary she filmed that led to the conviction of a man involved in the murders portrayed in the movie “Mississippi Burning.”

Brittany Saltiel filmed “The CORE of the Solution” with two classmates as a National History Day project four years ago when she was a sophomore at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.

“I think it’s amazing that it’s still going four years later,” Saltiel said about the attention the documentary has received.

According to the documentary’s website, three men, including former UW student Andrew Goodman, were murdered in 1964 while volunteering in Mississippi to help blacks gain the right to vote. At the time, no one was convicted of the murders.

The documentary’s exclusive interview with Edgar Ray Killen, the main suspect in the planning of the murders of the young men, led to his arrest and conviction.

Saltiel said she and her classmates were in close contact with a reporter in Mississippi and were able to make contacts with the young men’s families, allowing them to access important information concerning the case.

“The Montel Williams Show” was filmed last November and is not the first appearance Saltiel and her classmates have made on national television.

“We had done tapings before, so it was nothing new,” Saltiel added, mentioning “The Today Show,” “CBS Nightly News,” “ABC World News Tonight” and all the local affiliates in the Chicago area.

“The Montel Williams Show,” airing today at 4 p.m. on My Madison TV 14, focuses on hate crimes and includes Saltiel and her classmates.

Coordinating the trip to appear on the show last November was harder than the actual taping, Saltiel added.

The documentary received a number of congressional honors including a tribute presented by the presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and was awarded the 2005 Presidential Award for Justice.

The Congress of Racial Equality, the group the young men had been volunteering for, also honored the documentary in 2004 with the Civil Rights Champion Award.

“I think it’s pretty amazing that after 40-some years three high school girls were able to reopen such an important case,” UW sophomore Erin Palmer said. “It just proves what young people are capable of.”