The Chelmsford Friends of the Library Annual Meeting and Special Program

The History of Chocolate with author Anthony Sammarco
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Meeting: 6:30—7 p.m.
Lecture begins at 7:15 p.m.
in the McCarthy Meeting Room at the Chelmsford Public Library

The Baker Chocolate Company was founded along the Neponset River in 1765 by
Dr. James Baker and James Hannon. Over the next two centuries, the company became
one of the leading chocolate and cocoa manufacturers in North America. In his illustrated
lecture, Anthony Sammarco will chronicle the evolution of chocolate from the ancient
Aztec drink called “cacahuatl” to the sweet delicacy that we know today.

Anthony Sammarco is a noted historian and author of sixty books on
the history and development of Boston. He commenced writing for Arcadia Publications in 1995 and among his books, Dorchester made the Boston Globe’s Best Seller’s List and has gone though numerous reprints. His new book Dorchester: A Compendium will be published in May 2011 by The History Press.

Mr. Sammarco has taught history at the Urban College of Boston since 1996, where he was named educator of the year in 2003 and where he serves on the Leadership Council. His course “Boston’s Immigrants” was developed especially for the Urban College, and its diverse student base, and his book Boston’s Immigrants was written to highlight the diversity of the city. He has received the Bulfinch Award from the Doric Dames of the Massachusetts State House, and the Washington Medal from Freedom Foundation for his work in history. He was elected a Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society, is a member of the Boston Author’s Club, trustee of the Forest Hills Cemetery Educational Trust, the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association and is a proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum. In his volunteer work, he is treasurer of the Victorian Society, New England Chapter.

He served as chair of the trustees of the Milton Cemetery, and was a trustee of the Capt. Forbes House Museum. He is past president of the Bay State Historical League and the Dorchester Historical Society, a former trustee and treasurer of the Milton Public Library, a past member of the Milton Historical Commission, and had served as a corporator of the New England Baptist Hospital for a decade.

He lives in Boston and in Osterville on Cape Cod.