Taneya Koonce and Destiny Hanks Biography

Many African-Americans in the Nashville area may have connections to Fort Negley, if their family has been in the Nashville-Davidson county area for multiple generations. In part one of the two part video series, Taneya Koonce, president of the Nashville Chapter of Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, sits down with Destiny Hanks, undergraduate student researcher of the Fort Negley Descendants Project, to share some tips about genealogical research for those interested in constructing their family trees. 

Koonce started her family tree during one summer during her undergraduate years where she sat down with both of her grandmothers to discuss their families. With participation and leadership roles in organizations such as the USGenWeb Project,  Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society, Federation of Genealogical Societies, and Guild One-Name Studies, Koonce’s activities have led to multiple presentations and publications. 

In part two, Koonce walks Hanks through these tips and resources suggested for creating family trees. Hanks is a Nashville native. She is an undergraduate student in the School of Arts and Sciences at Vanderbilt University. She is a Medicine, Health, and Society major with minors in African American and Diaspora Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies. In the video, Hanks begins to discover her maternal grandfather's side of the family.