In February 2022, Stephen and Jean Winget-Dumas came to Andersonville National Historic Site to complete a very personal journey. Having visited Andersonville previously in search of her ancestor. Jean’s family had preserved over two dozen letters from David Long during his time as a Union soldier. Having read these letters many times, Jean relished how David Long was a “philosopher, thinker, and his letters are filled with insight. When discussing how these letters will help visitors understand another perspective from a soldier who ended up at Andersonville, Jean said that “to see who we are now, we need to see who our family were.” “We need to understand where we’ve been.”

The park will need to have the letters professionally conserved and scanned to enable visitors to read David Long’s perspectives on life in the army during the Civil War.