The Black Heritage Tree Project Syllabus

Explore the Black Heritage Tree Project Syllabus

The Black Heritage Tree Project Syllabus is a living, collaborative resource developed by our interdisciplinary and intercultural National Geographic Meridian team. Featuring over 100 carefully curated books, articles, podcasts, websites, museum exhibits, and more, this syllabus offers a gateway into the rich and evolving world of Black Heritage Trees across the globe. This living syllabus serves as a resource list for people around the world to dive deeper into the world of trees as living witnesses to the past and to learn more about our team’s work in the process. We encourage everyone to find these books in your local libraries and bookstores wherever possible.

Intended for students, educators, descendant communities, and tree lovers of all ages, this syllabus invites readers to explore how trees have stood as living witnesses to Black history—marking moments of joy and freedom, resistance and refuge, as well as survival amid acts of violence and dispossession. From Witness Trees and Memory Trees to Spirit Trees, Jumbie Trees, Bottle Trees, and Survivor Trees, each entry connects readers to a deeper understanding of trees as anchors of Black heritage and place.

Organized by our project site locations and tailored for both adults and younger “tree detectives,” this syllabus draws from a wide range of disciplines inclusing history, archaeology, Black and Indigenous studies, ecology, herbalism, psychology, environmental justice, and more. We hope that by engaging with this resource list adults and kids around the world will step into the role of heritage tree protectors, working to bring awareness to and preserve these living witnesses to the past while engaging with themes of remembrance, global repair, and restorative justice.

We invite you to explore, share, and grow with us as we continue protecting and honoring Black Heritage Trees as sacred, living archives around the world.