The sweet history of chocolate, uncovered by UF researchers, draws thousands to St. Augustine
Tourism in St. Augustine got a delicious boost last winter, when UF researchers introduced a free exhibit to the city about the history of chocolate called "Sweet Beginnings: Unwrapping St. Augustine’s Chocolate Legacy." Since December 7, more than 40,000 visitors have toured the showcase at the Governor’s House Cultural Center and Museum and learned about the extensive research of professors like Clarissa Carr, Ph.D.
“We were asked, ‘How did you get such amazing visitor numbers?’ And truly, it's chocolate. Chocolate really just draws people in on its own,” said Carr, a research assistant professor in UF’s College of Design, Construction and Planning.
Carr collaborated with Governor’s House Library Collections Coordinator Laura Douglass Marion to launch the exhibit. In the display, history unfolds through six beautifully designed panels, taking viewers on a journey from the ancient roots of cacao cultivation to the fateful 1641 hurricane that first brought chocolate to St. Augustine.
Exploring a flavorful past
Rich narratives and vivid imagery transport visitors through time, exploring the city's deep ties to chocolate, from colonial trade to the craftsmanship of modern chocolatiers. Display cases offer a tangible connection to the past, showcasing intricate chocolate molds shaped like acorns, elegant chocolate pots, and a metate and mano grinding tool displayed with cacao beans.
These artifacts, stories and spaces create a sensory experience that brings St. Augustine’s chocolate heritage to life. The curators also shared the 1641 history of chocolate in St. Augustine and added a modern twist by including local chocolatiers.
“This [exhibit] has attracted more local people to actually come downtown,” Marion said. “And they come in the building and check it out, which is cool because we're always looking to engage more with people that are actually living, working and contributing to the community.”
The exhibit is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and no ticket is necessary. Unfortunately for chocolate lovers, no free chocolate is included in the exhibit, but attendees can try out the local chocolatiers.
Expanding global chocolate research
The exhibit was created thanks to a $14,000 Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Chocolate History Grant, awarded to UF in February 2024. The researchers recently returned from the annual Heritage Chocolate Society Meeting, hosted by Mars Wrigley and AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate.
Carr loved working on this grant so much that she decided to find a new angle and apply again. This is where Anthea Grant, a UF Master of Historic Preservation student from Trinidad and Tobago, came into the picture. Trinidad and Tobago used to be a cocoa-producing country, but cocoa production slowed when oil and gas were discovered.
“It's picking back up now,” Grant said. “And associated with cocoa production in Trinidad, there are cultural traditions – like life on the estate, singing, dancing, drumming, telling stories, and a traditional dance called ‘dancing the cocoa,’ which is primarily what my thesis is based on, because it is at risk of, you know, dying.”
“Dancing the cocoa” is a traditional method of polishing cocoa beans after they have been dried and preparing them for sale. Carr and Grant were recently awarded $17,000 to conduct this research. They will use the funds to travel to Trinidad and Tobago to see “dancing the cocoa” and record it.
“We have a 360-degree camera that can record video as well, to have more of an immersive experience. We'll create an ArcGIS StoryMap from that and then collect oral histories,” Carr said.
While their research will focus on the traditional dance, it will also examine the area's cultural heritage. The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at UF will then share the oral histories collected. While the dates are still tentative, the researchers hope to travel to Trinidad and Tobago in July.
For more information on the “Sweet Beginnings” exhibit, visit staugustine.ufl.edu/visit.html.