In July 2024, Dana Foster joined Andersonville National Historic Site and Jimmy Carter National Historical Park as their joint Museum Curator, and currently splits her time between the two sites. While this is Dana’s first time living in Georgia, she is not new to the southeast. She moved to Americus, Georgia from Foley, Alabama after living on the Gulf Coast for the past five years.

Dana holds both a BA and an MA in anthropology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (go Rebels!). Dana is the daughter of two Air Force veterans and lived abroad half her life due to her parents’ military career. Dana has a keen interest in learning about other people and their cultures, working in museums has always been a goal of hers. She is passionate about cultural resource management and has enjoyed working in archaeology and historic preservation over the years. Dana isn’t new to NPS and has interned and worked at other sites, including Yosemite National Park, Manzanar National Historic Site, and the Southeast Archaeological Center.

She is excited to continue to familiarize herself with the National Prisoner of War Museum’s collection and plans to start a virtual exhibit on the park’s website so that she can share more about the unique objects in the park’s collection. In her free time, Dana enjoys hiking and exploring Georgia’s beautiful state parks and public lands with her two labradors, Binx and Kona.

In August 2023, Emily Peacock joined the Andersonville Museum staff through the Pathways Program, which offers current college students and recent graduates a way to explore federal career opportunities. Growing up in Americus, Emily has connections to the park, including through her uncle, Hugh Peacock, a photographer and former Teacher Ranger Teacher.

Emily is passionate about history and loves doing research. Although her area of interest is Medieval Europe, she chose to work at Andersonville National Historic Site because of the “vast history and the stories” that can be told here. Andersonville’s broad scope allows a history buff like Emily to delve into a wide variety of time periods and topics.

As part of the Interpretation Team at Andersonville, Emily performs many daily tasks, from greeting visitors to contributing to the park’s social media and helping with special events. Of her many duties, Emily says that her absolute favorite is helping people fill in the gaps in their family histories through prisoner file requests. She loves digging into “old Civil War documents to see if a prisoner was at Andersonville or not.” Emily also likes giving tours. She says, “It’s fun to be able to tell the history of the camp and the many stories of the prisoners that were here.”

Emily is a senior at Georgia Southwestern State University and will graduate this December with a bachelor’s degree in history. After graduation, she hopes to continue in the National Park Service as a ranger, teaching this and future generations about our nation’s history.

We recently added horticulturist, Adam Foldesi to the Andersonville National Historic Site team. As part of a larger effort to ensure the highest level of care for our national cemeteries, the National Park Service funded this position to ensure the highest possible level of tree care in the national cemetery and allow for improvements to the historic cultural landscape throughout the park. Adam will also oversee all other preservation work in the national cemetery.

Adam is a certified arborist who has worked for the city of Denver, Colorado as well as Zion and Yosemite National Parks. As an arborist, he is helping the national historic site prevent pest and diseases from impacting our historic trees, managing hazardous trees, planting, and pruning for tree health. Adam is from Kalamazoo, Michigan, the home of checkered cabs and Gibson guitars, and interested in Classic R&B music or soul. One of his favorite artists to listen to is Stevie Wonder. When not climbing trees, he likes to stay active by running, playing music, and watching hockey games.

 

 

Hello! My name is Christine Hoffmark-Coffey and I was the 2022-2023 Cultural Resources Collections Intern at Andersonville Historical Site. Before my time here at Andersonville, I was the Collections Manager for the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa in Riverside, California, a registered historical building. I received my Bachelors in Art History from the University of California, Irvine in 2015 and my Masters in History from Claremont Graduate University in 2018.

I am a native Californian, but when my husband got stationed to the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, we became temporary Georgians. I thought it would be a wonderful way to get to know the history of the area by working at one of the nearby National Parks. When I received word that I had this opportunity I was excited to dive right in. As my term comes to an end, I can say I have a more in depth understanding of the history surrounding Andersonville as well as the stories of the POWs whose collections the park protects.

During my term, I was able to work with some fascinating collections and help catalog some interesting objects, such as John D. Vecchiola’s collection from his time as a POW in Stalag Luft IV, which included letters from home and a backpack (see “An Object Lesson”) and Carl Hedin’s collection from his time as a POW at Stalag Luft I, which included photographs of prison life.

My experience working at Andersonville has been a wonderful time. I would like to thank the Friends of Andersonville for funding my position, as well as my supervisor Bridget and the staff of the National Prisoner of War Museum for allowing me the opportunity to gain so much insight into National Park collections.

 

Andersonville National Historic Site employs numerous youths through a variety of programs each year. Our newest park employee is Zoe Kane-Preissing. Zoe came to Andersonville NHS from Chicago, Illinois to work with our maintenance division. Since the beginning of May, she has been helping the park gain its “Night Sky” designation by checking all man-made light sources for light pollution and conducting research for a Dark Sky program. Zoe is also assisting with the Facility Management Software System and anywhere else she is needed in the park. She applied to this position because she had “never lived in the south before or even been to Georgia and wanted something new.” Zoe would like to continue her NPS service in the future at other parks across the country. She loves the National Park Service because she gets to work in nature and believes in the meaningful work the NPS does to benefit others. She loves running, reading, cooking, and photography. She assisted with the Memorial Day event by taking pictures. She also enjoys participating on the park’s weekly trivia team. We are so happy to have Zoe on staff for six months and excited to see what she does with the Night Sky programming!

 

Volunteer Sherri Barnhard joined the park’s Interpretation team in November 2022. She is often seen greeting visitors at the front desk or working behind the camera lens, documenting special events.

Sherri is a retired Firefighter and EMT and has also worked as an American Sign Language Interpreter. Born and raised in Los Angeles County, California, Sherri spent much of her leisure time hiking and volunteering at Devil’s Punch Bowl in the Angeles National Forest. Her love of history and desire to share it with others is evident in her work at the park.

Her interest in Andersonville stems from a personal connection to the park through her grandfather, a POW during the Korean War, Tiger Survivor, and a member of the VFW. Recently, she loaned the National Prisoner of War Museum several items used in a temporary exhibit documenting her grandfather’s POW experience, repatriation, and continued service in the US Army.

About her volunteer service, Sherri says, “My goal as a volunteer is to continue the legacy of my grandfather and so many other prisoners of war so that future generations never forget how we got our freedoms. I want them to know the hope, strength, and resilience of our soldiers and POWs, what they stand for, and what they’ve given us.”