Check out the FCB Event Calendar for upcoming Legacy of Slavery Project events!
The Legacy of Slavery Project (LoSp) is a congregational initiative created to
develop an understanding of The First Church in Belmont’s ties to slavery in
Cuba during the nineteenth century through the substantial benefactions of
the Atkins family, and to explore how these historical findings might translate
into an enduring congregational commitment that centers those who have
been harmed.
Informed by shared Unitarian Universalist principles, and through
congregational support and denominational grant funding, the LoSP has been
researching other similarly situated organizations (e.g., churches, schools,
and universities) to understand how they have developed awareness of their
own historical ties to slavery, as well as any formal steps they have
contemplated or taken in response. As part of this ongoing work, the LoSP
has also continued to offer frequent events and workshops to share what’s
been learned with the congregation and to promote awareness and inclusion
as The First Church in Belmont (FCB) community works toward the
development of a congregational commitment to reparative justice.
FCB Legacy of Slavery Project Group Members:
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Gina Carloni, co-chair
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Kathryn Bonfiglio, co-chair
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Meg Anderson
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Devon Beckett
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Karen Brennan
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Charles Hubbard
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Rev. Chris Jablonski
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Douglas Massidda
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Rev. John O’Connor
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Dánel Sánchez Tarragó
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Pegeen Wright
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Fran Yuan
Background: How the Project Began
In early 2023, members of The First Church in Belmont History Group organized a two-part informational series, “Confronting Our History: The Stories Behind the Tiffany Window,” to share what they had begun to learn about the church’s ties to slavery in Cuba in the 19th century. Later that spring, the Parish Board put forth a charge for the creation of an Atkins Cuba LegacyTask Force (ACLTF), whose role it would be to:
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further explore the church’s connection to the enslaved and indentured workers on the Atkins family’s plantation in Cienfuegos, Cuba,
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investigate how other similarly situated institutions are addressing their legacies ofslavery,
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share with the congregation what they learn through their research,
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and ultimately, put forth recommendations based upon those research findings.
Members of the task force began their work in October 2023, and continue to meet monthly. In the spring of 2024, they presented a proposal to the Parish Board requesting to change their name to The First Church in Belmont Legacy of Slavery Project (LoSP). The new name was approved and adopted at that time.
Overview of the Legacy of Slavery Project Group’s Work (2023-2026)
Investigated the history of the Atkins family, whose principal sugar plantation, Soledad, used enslaved and indentured African individuals in the late 19th century, as well as looking into the extensive role that New England played in the sugar and slave trades.
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Reached out to houses of worship, universities, and groups in the Boston area who are engaging in similar work to better understand their own connections to slavery.
4
Learned about a bell that the Atkins family gifted to the Belmont Hill School in 1927, which had originally been on the Soledad plantation and is now housed at The Robbins House Museum in Concord. Organized a presentation in the spring of 2024 by Dr. Maria Madison of The Robbins House to hear more about the bell’s history and her 2023 research trip to the Soledad plantation, and took part in a guided tour of the museum.
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Project chair, Gina Carloni, chair of the project group, gave a presentation in December 2024 to update the congregation on the findings and work of The Legacy of Slavery Project.
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Dr. Ulbe Bosma, author of The World of Sugar and the 2023 Boston Globe article about Edwin Atkins, entitled The sugar baron of Boston, gave a talk at the church in April 2025 about Edwin Atkins, his role as a sugar magnate and prominent Bostonian, and his connection to Cuba and slavery.
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Applied for and received two grants from the Unitarian Universalist Funding Program in the spring of 2025 and 2026 to continue the project’s exploration of the history of First Church’s legacy of slavery and shepherd a process of repair, deepening, and growth for the community and the descendants of the enslaved individuals from Atkins’ sugar plantations in Cuba.
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FCB’s “Share the Plate” donations for December, 2025 were given to Friends of Caritas Cubana, a Cambridge-based NGO that supports humanitarian and social services in Cuba, including projects in Pepito Tey, the current name of the town where the Atkins’ Soledad plantation was located. The funding provided mosquito nets for every household in Pepito Tey to help combat mosquito-borne illnesses.
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Hosted The Truth of Our Past: UU Reparations Summit in March 2026 in FCB’s Parish Hall. The event brought together presenters from four area churches as well as FCB to discuss their legacies of slavery and efforts toward repair, and included a workshop on freedom dreaming by Dr. Sophia Boyer.
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Helped to develop annual worship services each fall beginning in 2023, that incorporate Afro-Cuban music and reflections by project members about the work of the group.
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Began learning more about reparations and connecting with organizations that are currently working on this.
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Started looking into ways that FCB can forge ties and collaborate with Afro-Cuban communities and organizations in Cuba and the U.S. This included hosting a meeting with leadership of the Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue (Cuba/Dominican Republic) in fall 2024 and donating half of the December 2024 worship service collections to that organization as part of the congregation’s “Share the Plate” efforts.
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Co-sponsored three events with the FCB Book Group: two book group discussions in January 2025 on The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times, a non-fiction book by New York Times correspondent Anthony DePalma, and another in May 2026 on Homeland of My Body, a poetry collection by Cuban-American poet Richard Blanco.
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Offered a documentary film series, Cuba and Race, in April, May, and June of 2025, which included the following documentaries: A Tuba to Cuba (2018), The Harvard Cubans (2017), and Black in Latin America: Cuba (2011)
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At the Cuban music worship service in November 2025, described by some congregants as one of their most moving experiences at First Church, four Cuban members of the community read aloud the names of the 177 enslaved individuals.
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Esteemed Cuban economist Dr. Ricardo Torres-Pérez led a presentation and Q&A session in September 2026 entitled, Understanding Cuba’s Economy, in which he traced Cuba’s economic trajectory from the 1959 Revolution to the present with the goal of providing a clear, evidence-based explanation of how decades of internal decisions and external pressure have produced the Cuba we see today.
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In January, June, and October of 2026, educational consultant and professional facilitator Dr. Sophia Boyer led three distinctly-themed workshops on aspects of reparative justice to help inform and guide the community as FCB begins to development a proposal for a congregational commitment to reparative justice.
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Researched about indentured Chinese laborers brought to Cuba to work in the sugar fields, including those who later worked on the Atkins family’s plantation.
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Participated in a presentation with First Parish in Cambridge in early 2024 about both congregations’ historical ties to slavery.
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Organized two movie presentations and discussions of Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North in December 2024 and February 2026, led by Dr. Sophia Boyer, an educational consultant and professional facilitator.
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Project member and former history teacher, Karen Brennan, gave a presentation in March 2025 about slavery and Boston’s prominent role in the triangle trade.
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Collaborated with historians Orlando Félix García Martínez and Anabel García García in Cienfuegos, Cuba, who were able to uncover an 1881 list of 177 enslaved individuals connected to the Atkins family who worked at the Soledad plantation in Cuba.
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Immediately following the November 2025 service, Gina Carloni, project member Kathryn Bonfiglio, and FCB parish historian, John Howe, gave a project update to the congregation. The project group then unveiled a 6-panel, photographic and informational display focused on centering the lives of Soledad’s enslaved individuals and honoring them by name.
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Showcased photos taken in Cuba by Margaret Eagle and Gina Carloni as part of Cuba in Focus: A Photographic Journey, a Cuban photography exhibition. The opening night event in April 2026 included Cuban food and drinks, a discussion of 80 curated photographs, and an opportunity to learn more about life in Cuba through the power of images.