The Time-Traveling Hardys
“My friend and I were just trying to save history.” - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Welcome to the page for The Time-Traveling Hardys! For many years, the Hardys have been hanging out in the past: visiting historic sites, researching and writing, and serving as historic interpreters. We spend many weekends every year volunteering our time at historic sites, sharing our love of history. And we inhabit multiple time periods. You might see us in an eighteenth-century frontier fort, a nineteenth-century law office, or maybe even a mid-twentieth-century scrap-metal drive. We are always learning, always looking for new sites where we can help, always trying to reach people with the importance of the past.
Michael attended his first event, a Civil War reenactment, in 1982. He’s been obsessed with history ever since. He really grew up in the mid-nineteenth-century, attending events across the country, commanding a company and, eventually, commanding a battalion. Since 2015, Michael has moved beyond military interpretation, exploring the roles of eighteenth-century tavern keepers, nineteenth-century lawyers, and World War II civilians. In the “real world,” Michael is a graduate of the University of Alabama and the author of 28 books, mostly concerning the Civil War or North Carolina.
Elizabeth first encountered interpreters in the late 1980s while her family was visiting Vicksburg National Military Park, but it was not until she met Michael at a Civil War event in 1994 that she jumped into the past and hasn’t looked back. With a background in theater and storytelling and a lifelong interest in history, Elizabeth draws on both her own family history and her educational training in order to explore the roles of mountain medicinal plant collectors, early settlers in Appalachia, and civilians and women in during the mid-nineteenth-century and World War II. A graduate of the University of Louisville and Appalachian State, she is a community college English instructor and a literary scholar and author.
Isabella has been interpreting history since before she could talk, but once she started talking, she has not stopped teaching others about the past. She has advanced to the national level in Individual Performance at National History Day for the past six years, placing first in the Junior Division in 2020 and winning the NC outstanding Entry award at nationals in 2023. Several of her projects have created the foundation for interpretive programs. She is a dual-enrolled high school and college student who also enjoys sewing period garments.
Some of the locations where we have worked in the past:
Sycamore Shoals State Park (including Fort Watauga, the Carter Mansion, and Sabine Hill)
Historic Richmond Hill Law School
Blue Ridge Parkway and other National Park Service sites
Tipton Haynes State Historic Site
Rocky Mount State Historic Site
The Carson House
Fort Defiance
Libraries
Schools
History Associations
Heritage Festivals
And many more!
Current Programs Available:
Eighteenth-century: Medicinal Plants, Tavern-keeping, Everyday Life on the Frontier
Nineteenth-Century: Law and Legal Education, Beauty and Hygiene, Medicine, Caring for the Dead, Clothing, Civilian and Military Experiences during the American Civil War, Science and Astronomy, Literature
Annie Oakley
World War II: War on the Homefront, including Books for Victory, Victory Gardens, Aircraft Warning Service, the Victory Corps
Follow our adventures on facebook! If you are interested in having us travel to your site or event, use the contact form above!