Living Heritage Institute

What is Living Heritage?

Living Heritage describes the terrain of human experience, narrative, and embodied connections that combine to form stories that inform how we move through the world. Likewise, the stories that define our national heritage provide a backdrop for reconstructing new meaning from dominant narratives that continue to silence communities of storytellers that trouble the status quo. At the LHI, 'living heritage' refers to our collective capacity in the present to honor the past through projects that support a shared vision for the future.

Origin Story

The Living Heritage Institute was founded in 2023 by Dr. Antoinette Jackson as a vehicle for expanding the scope of contemporary heritage work that has been conducted at the °®¶¹´«Ã½ Heritage Research Lab since 2006. With an eye towards a broader vision of what the lab could be, Dr. Jackson formed the LHI as a hub for building new approaches to heritage research by way of artistic collaborations, local partnerships, and multidisciplinary projects centered on the power of storytelling, creativity, and community.

May 21-22, 2026 | This two-day event brings together people, families, community organizations, cemetery preservation advocates, researchers, artists, descendants, heritage practitioners, and anyone committed to learning about Black cemetery erasure and preservation efforts and advancing dignity for the dead.