Disclaimer: This Inside South Florida segment is sponsored by Mars Inc. & American Heritage Chocolate. All opinions and views are of the advertiser and does not reflect the same of WSFL-TV.
As America prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, a new award is shining a spotlight on the interpreters and guides who bring history to life at historic sites and museums.
The History Tellers Award, launched by Mars Inc. and its American Heritage Chocolate brand, recognizes individuals who connect audiences with the nation's history in meaningful ways.
Marcus P. Smith, an interpretive fellow at the Du Bois Freedom Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and a PhS candidate, is the 2026 recipient of the award.
Dave Borghesani, chocolate historian for Mars Inc., said the company has been committed to preserving American history for more than 20 years through American Heritage Chocolate, a brand based on recipes from the 1700s.
"As we celebrate America's 250th anniversary, we wanted to shine the spotlight on those people who connect their audiences with our nation's history in meaningful ways," Borghesani said.
Smith said his work at the Du Bois Freedom Center focuses on the life, legacy, and scholarship of W.E.B. Du Bois, Black history in the Berkshires, and the history of the Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church.
"Du Bois has so much to offer in terms of his conversations around democracy, liberty, civic engagement, civic responsibility, and thinking about the ways that this community is essential to the founding of American democracy is never more relevant than now, during our nation's 250th," Smith said.
Borghesani said chocolate has played a role in major milestones throughout American history, noting that the nation's founding fathers drank chocolate, and that it was used as currency and as a military ration.
"Chocolate has been to the highest point on Earth at the top of Mount Everest, as well as the lowest point, the Mariana Trench," Borghesani said. "Chocolate has even been outer space."
For more information on the History Tellers Award, American Heritage Chocolate and Mars Inc.'s commitment to history education and preservation, visit americanheritagechocolate.com.
Information on the Du Bois Freedom Center's summer programming schedule is available on the center's website.
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