Experience the lives and times of a thriving historic Jewish community.

Our Mission

The Jewish Chelsea Museum (JCM) at Temple Emmanuel offers immersive storytelling and educational programming to show how immigrant Jewish families and their descendants lived in twentieth-century Chelsea. Visit the JCM to experience the lives and times of a thriving historic Jewish community.

Temple Emmanuel of Chelsea

Interview
Phyllis Herda's Yiddish Book Center Interview
The Phyllis Herda interview was recorded as part of the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project, a growing collection of in-depth video interviews about Yiddish language and culture, accessible online at yiddishbookcenter.org/tell-your-story
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Interview
Sara Lee Callahan's Jewish Neighborhood Voices Interview

This oral history is included here by permission of the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at American Ancestors, which conducted the interview as part of its “Jewish Neighborhood Voices” oral history project.

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Our History
About Temple Emmanuel of Chelsea

In 1859, the Cary Avenue Baptist Church finished constructing a chapel at 16 Cary Avenue, which houses Temple Emmanuel’s Tudor Street meeting hall today. In 1872, the Cary Avenue Baptist Church erected an expansive addition to its 1859 chapel, which it moved to the back of the lot, fronting Tudor Street. 

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"Temple Emmanuel is grateful to the congregation Ahabat Sholom Religious Fund for supporting the Jewish Chelsea Museum. We are delighted to have the Museum under our roof and excited about contributing to the fulfillment of its vital educational mission."
Sara Lee Callahan, President
Temple Emmanuel of Chelsea

About the Museum

The Jewish Chelsea Museum (JCM) at Temple Emmanuel hosts exhibits, displays, and interactive programs. In addition, the JCM provides lectures, workshops, webinars, and other educational events. Our purpose is to inform visitors about Jewish Chelsea immigrants’ and newcomers’ histories, experiences, beliefs, and values. We also afford persons with Jewish Chelsea roots opportunities to share stories about their life in Chelsea and how this uniquely welcoming and resilient community shaped their identity, relationships, and choices.

" 'There’s no place like Chelsea.' I grew up hearing these words from generations of my family. Over the years, I have learned that the meanings we attribute to a place are complicated and varied. But memories, emotions, and connections to Chelsea are forever. Really, there’s no place like Chelsea. "
Dr. Ellen Rovner, President
Jewish Chelsea Museum
Share Your Story With Us
All formats welcomed

We can accept written stories, audio or video. We would love a photo (or photos) to accompany your story. Interested? Intrigued? Click the button below to begin your story-sharing adventure. 

Submit Your Story

375 Broadway, the location of an MGM theater. 

Contact us!

Name(Required)

There are several ways to connect with the JCM! Please fill out the submission form to the right. If you are interested in donating, please click the button below!

Donate to the Museum

email: herbertselesnick@gmail.com

phone: +1 978-273-5115

60 Tudor Street
Chelsea, MA 02150

Visiting the Museum is by appointment only through the submission form.

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About the Temple

In 1859, the Cary Avenue Baptist Church finished constructing a chapel at 16 Cary Avenue, which houses Temple Emmanuel’s Tudor Street meeting hall today. In 1872, the Cary Avenue Baptist Church erected an expansive addition to its 1859 chapel, which it moved to the back of the lot, fronting Tudor Street. Today, the newer Cary Avenue addition houses Temple Emmanuel’s sanctuary and the Jewish Chelsea Museum. 

In 1904, the Cary Avenue Baptist Church sold its building to a Methodist Episcopal congregation in Chelsea. The Methodists left Cary Avenue in 1935 after selling the Church property to Congregation Beth El, a Jewish Chelsea synagogue. In 1939, Congregation Beth El re-named itself Temple Emmanuel of Chelsea, removed the Church’s steeple, and replaced the building’s wood front doors with steel and glass ones. 

Temple Emmanuel’s building is undergoing a three-phase work-in-progress restoration. Phase one, completed in October 2023, restored the building’s slate roof, brick chimneys, and roof drainage system. Phase two will remove the aluminum and asphalt siding materials and insulation board, complete all carpentry repairs needed to make the building weathertight, and replicate or preserve the original architectural woodwork. Phase three will restore the window glazings, lights, muntin bars, decorative mullions, casements, sills, entrances’ masonry stairways, porches, cheek walls, and the foundation’s above-ground masonry.

Thank you for deciding to donate to the Jewish Chelsea Museum.

Thank you for deciding to donate to the Jewish Chelsea Museum. Your donation is tax-deductible. We accept checks or money orders made out to the Jewish Chelsea Museum, Inc.

Please mail your donation to:

Jewish Chelsea Museum
Temple Emmanuel of Chelsea
60 Tudor Street, Chelsea, MA 01250

Your support will help us continue growing the museum’s Jewish Chelsea collection and hosting story-sharing conversations.

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