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Chelsea Stories:
Through the Decades

Created, produced and directed by Clark Ave Productions and Jukebox Events.

As part of the celebration of Chelsea’s 400th Anniversary in 2024, Clark Ave Productions are released Chelsea City Stories, a story telling project “through the decades” told by Chelsea residents. These five minute videos are selections from 45 minute interviews. The subjects in these videos include Chelsea's own Leo Robinson, Josh Resnek, Roseann Bongiovanni, Celeste Williams and Dan Cortez for their time and sharing their stories.

1973 — "The bathtubs melted."

In this video, Chelsea Native Leo Robinson shares his stories about Chelsea's Great Fires—the 1909 fire and the 1973 fire that impacted his family and their neighborhood. Leo Robinson is a life-long resident of Chelsea. He has served on the Chelsea City Council for more than 30 years. He is currently a Councilor-at-Large and has previous served as Council President and a Commissioner on the Chelsea Housing Authority and President of the CAPIC Real Estate Board.

1962 — "He did it with aplomb."

In this video, we hear from Emmy Award-winning Boston journalist and former Vice President and Editor of The Independent Newspaper Group Josh Resnek recollect his time spent working at his father’s pharamacy and the people he remembers. Josh has served as the Editor-at-Large for the Improper Bostonian magazine. His work has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, among many others. He has also appeared on national television as a commentator on 60 Minutes and Court TV. Today, he is journalist, businessman, consultant, and the owner of The Chelsea Press LLC.

1995 — "The Wake-up call."

In this video Executive Director, MPH, of GreenRoots Chelsea Roseann shares her “aha” moment, when she realized her calling, purpose, and commitment to making Chelsea more environmentally safe. Roseann has worked for environmental justice for more than 25 years. Her extensive career began as a young organizer with the Chelsea Green Space Committee and included victories defeating the construction of a diesel power plant, and preventing ethanol “bomb” trains from traveling to a Chelsea Creek oil terminal. In 2016, Roseann transitioned this vital work into the independent environmental justice and public health organization, GreenRoots, which played a critical role in the response to COVID-19 in Chelsea and East Boston. Under her leadership, Chelsea was named a Culture of Health Prize Winner in 2017, GreenRoots was selected as a Social Innovator in 2018 and was named a US EPA Merit Award Winner in 2021.

1978 — "People are nice here."

Celeste Williams shares her initial impression of Chelsea and her story of how she came to think of Chelsea as “home”. Celeste didn’t much like Chelsea when she first visited in the early seventies, but Chelsea won her over when the community rallied around her family during a difficult time.

2013 – "It was gritty and I liked it."

When Dan Cortez first moved to Chelsea he said he could squint his eyes and imagine he was on a city block in Brooklyn in the 1950s. In this video Dan shares his first impression of the Chelsea and why he has dedicated the last decade to help our most vulnerable community members. Dan is the Community Engagement Specialist for the Chelsea Police Department. He works closely with residents, community leaders, elected officials, business owners and community-based organizations along with police personnel to create meaningful relationships and partnerships aimed at improving the safety and well-being of the community.

Chelsea Stories: Through the Decades