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That’s right, we are always on the lookout for delicious recipes made with AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate products. Simply create a member account and submit your recipe today!
Our finely grated baking chocolate is specially crafted to melt with ease. Replace with powdered chocolate 1:1 in any of your favorite recipes.
Peruse through our curated list of free educational resources from our Historic Site Partners. There’s something for everyone young and old.
Our grant application period for 2026 is now closed!
Step back in time and explore the unforgettable moments from the Heritage Chocolate Society 2024 meeting.
The Heritage Chocolate Society (formerly Colonial Chocolate Society) celebrated its 21st annual meeting on February 27-28, 2024 in Washington DC and Mount Vernon, Virginia. Established in 2003 by American history advocate Forrest E. Mars, Jr., the Heritage Chocolate Society was created to further the study of chocolate’s diverse history and its impact on culture in the Americas, both past and present. For the past 21 years, the meeting has brought compelling, noteworthy, and best-in-class speakers to inspire, connect, and equip attendees from America’s most iconic history and culture museums to make a lasting impact on their visitor experience.
This year’s meeting, The Future Decoded: What you Need to Know Now, focused on equipping you with strategic tools and insights during a time of supercharged change. We also had a lot of fun and made a surprise announcement. Please enjoy the Grant Winner videos, Event Sizzle Reel, and speaker presentations as well as our special video announcement about the new award category for HCS 2025.
Watch for more information throughout the year!
Relive special moments at HCS 2024!
Take a look at the highlights from HCS 2024!
We have a surprise…a new award that recognizes America’s storytellers, interpreters, guides, docents, kit makers, artisans, and volunteers. Learn more!
Learn how historic, and cultural organizations, universities, and education services created programs, activations, and teaching opportunities through the Forrest E. Mars Jr. 2023 Grant Awards.
Presented by The Lewes Society, this video shows us the inspiration behind and recreation of a Historical Coffee House, used for special events and tastings.
Presented by the Tampa Bay Times, this Grant was used to create an original curriculum supplement focusing on the historical, cultural, and economic significance of chocolate in Florida. It was used to teach schoolchildren the importance of using historical raw data and information in storytelling about history.
Presented by the Montana State University, this video shares details of a grant-funded program that explores how indigenous knowledge of cocoa farmers in Nigeria interacted with modern science to shape the evolution of a sustainable cocoa value chain.
Presented by the Office of Historic Alexandria, learn about the grant-funded Junior Docent program (for ages 9-13), where kids learn how to present the history of chocolate at Gadsby’s Tavern. There were many lessons learned when the program went into the community at schools and festivals.
Presented by the French Colonial America, this "hands-on history center" shares the details of their grant-funded after-school educational programs.
Presented by Westport Museum for History and Culture, this video shares the details of their Grant Funded program, an exhibit about chocolate in the American Colonies, specifically around the town of Westport, CT.
HCS 2024 featured a compelling group of speakers. Please enjoy their presentations.
HCS Keynote Speaker, Colleen Dilenschneider, Co-Founder and Managing Member of IMPACTS Experience, uncovered the top three biggest data-informed challenges facing history organizations over the next five years, as well as some of the early data-informed solutions.
Chef Ramin Ganeshram’s Gala dinner experience was an entertaining lesson in how using food told the story of Hercules Posey, the enslaved chef of George Washington.
HCS Day 2 Keynote, Adam Conley, Regional Insights Director, North America, Mars Wrigley, addressed the trends that are shaping the world around us, and how these trends are influencing how people are shopping and consuming differently.
Mia Nagawiecki from The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation shared extensive audience research underpinning their innovative outreach to ensure that 2026 is a moment of collective learning for our nation.
Caroline Klibanoff, Executive Director of Made by Us led an interactive workshop experience that combined guests from historic sites with Made By Us Fellows to generate meaningful points of entry for youth to the U.S. 250th.
Sasha Stiles, Artist, Poet, and AI researcher invited guests to explore how generative AI can meaningfully empower and augment institutional archives and reinvigorate programming and engagement.
