For more than three centuries, King’s Chapel in downtown Boston has told its story with pride. The first Unitarian church in the United States, it holds a spot on the Freedom Trail , which millions walk each year.

However, beneath the church’s velvety pews lingers another history: slave owners and traders who once belonged to the congregation.

“We began to wrestle with that, because this is a church that has been very proud of our history,” Reverend Joy Fallon, a senior minister at the church, said.

The Tremont Street church was founded in 1686. As a step toward reckoning with its past, it unveiled “Unbound,” a sculpture honoring the at least 219 men, women, and children who were enslaved by past ministers and parishioners, in September.

“We knew that it was our moral obligation to t

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