A powerful new monument now stands along Boston’s Freedom Trail, honoring the lives of more than 200 enslaved people once held by members and ministers of King’s Chapel.
The 14-foot sculpture, titled Unbound, was unveiled Sunday on the church’s downtown property. Created by artistHarmonia Rosales in collaboration with MASS DesignGroup, the work depicts a Black woman in a flowing white dress releasing birds from a cage — a symbolic gesture of freedom and remembrance. The birds represent the 219 individuals enslaved by the church’s original congregants, a history often omitted from Boston’s colonial narrative.
During the unveiling, members of the congregation read aloud the names of those enslaved and joined in singingLift Every Voice and Sing.
Leaders of King’s Chapel said the memorial was born out of a moral obligation to tell the truth about the city’s history. Founded in 1686 as an Anglican church, King’s Chapel today is a Unitarian congregation and one of 16 historic sites along the Freedom Trail…