In 1997, Portland’s mayor-elect Ethan Strimling took the helm of Portland West, a nonprofit organization today known as LearningWorks. In this 1998 file photo, Strimling stands in front of a building renovation on Portland’s Park Avenue where his organization was offering vocational training through it’s “Youth Build” program.

Seventeen years later, as seen in the Tuesday, November 3 photograph at left, Strimling celebrated his election to become Portland’s next mayor.

Ethan Strimling shares a moment with his campaign manager Stephanie Clifford after he won the Portland mayoral race on November 3, 2015. Strimling's campaign slogan was "Portland Together" – but one year later, many of his colleagues on the Council are complaining of strained relationships. Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

The Portland Room of the Portland Public Library is in the process of organizing and conserving the archival collection of original Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram and Evening Express photographic negatives — a major collection that spans from 1937 to 2005. Find more photos at www.pressherald.com/flashback/.