Tanya Gaskins Hardy is founder and CEO of A View of the Past and a native of Northern Virginia. Though being a history teacher was her passion growing up, she realized that they were a "dime a dozen" with so many prospective college students pursuing that role when she graduated from high school. She decided to serve children who needed extra support in the classroom and received her bachelor’s degree in Special Education and her Master’s in Education Administration. Her love of history was shared with her students and those of other teachers through her lessons that made "history fun" according to her students. Tanya retired as a Behavior Specialist after 41 years of service with the determination to get back to researching the history she loved.

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Though she was and still is passionate about working with and for children, Tanya is also a lover of history and genealogy having conducted genealogical research for the past 30+ years. During breaks from teaching, she researched the history of African American communities in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia as well as the families living in those areas. Retirement opened the door for the establishment of "A View of the Past".

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Tanya has traced the ancestry of both her paternal and maternal family lineage back to the late 1700’s. She and her father, Robert Gaskins, co-authored a book on the history of her mother’s family entitled “From Buckingham to Ballard – A Genealogical Study of Thomas Mac Agee and Malinda Caroline Walker”. Tanya is currently revising her book, “Standin’ on Faith – The Story of Galloway Church”, which chronicles the history of Galloway United Methodist Church, an historic African American church, established in 1867 in Northern Virginia. As the church historian, Tanya’s collaboration with the Falls Church Historical Commission gained Galloway recognition in the Civil War Trails Project of Virginia.

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While conducting genealogical research about a friend’s family, Tanya came across some information that would forever change the lives of the members of that family as well as add another chapter to the unwritten book of outstanding African Americans and their contributions to this country. Captain George Pointer was born a slave in the late 1700’s, hired out as a child to George Washington’s Potomac Canal Company, bought his freedom in the early 1800’s and went on to work for the Potomac Company for 21 years earning the title of superintending engineer over the entire project on both the Great Falls, Virginia and the Montgomery County, Maryland sides of the Potomac River. Tanya is currently assisting the family in their pursuit to get nationwide recognition for this amazing African American. Great Falls Park of the National Park Service has been actively involved in working collaboratively with Tanya and a team of supporters to provide more exposure about this amazing man by expanding the exhibit about Captain Pointer in their museum. The National Park Service Great Falls Park has also added information on their website detailing the life of Captain Pointer, the last Superintendent Engineer over the Potomac Company, whose leadership and skills in building a successful system of canal locks to allow a safer navigation route around the rapids of the Potomac River was considered “America’s greatest eighteenth century achievement.”

Tanya and an 8th generation grandson of Pointer, James Fisher, were interviewed by Anna-Lysa Gayle of WJLA7 about their work on the George Pointer Project. The interview was aired in February of 2019. In the spring of 2021, through the acknowledgement of the history of this great man and the efforts of his descendants by local historical societies, politicians and community members, the names of Lafayette Park and the Recreation Center in Chevy Chase, DC were changed to Lafayette-Pointer Park and Lafayette- Pointer Recreation Center due to the support of DC Council. Currently Tanya is providing research for a group of students and professors at University of District of Columbia along with Historic Chevy Chase DC  in the Black Broad Branch Project to pursue reparations for the Pointer descendants, Shorte/Dorsey descendants and other families who had land taken from them by eminent domain during the 1920's and is also providing genealogical research for the Hillsdale-Barry Farm Project in SW District of Columbia.
 

 Tanya has presented at FEMA's National Headquarters African American Month program, at conferences, churches and schools. She is a member of The National Genealogical Society, The Afro-American Genealogical Society - National and James Dent Walker Chapter DC, and is a Board Member of Historic Chevy Chase DC, a non-profit historical society documenting the history and development of Chevy Chase, DC. In her spare time Tanya loves to organize her family's get-togethers where she is always able to collect more family stories and memories.

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"I have helped clients discover ancestors who arrived in the United States through choice and those who arrived by enslavement. Hearing a client's excitement when I share the Native American lineage connection or present the birth document received from Ireland for a great-great grandfather they've been searching for is so satisfying and only gets me more excited about the next project."

                                                                                                       Tanya