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Vesey was among 35 who were arrested and executed as a result, the Parks Service said.

The church’s website states that it held underground worship services from 1834 through 1865, during which time African-American churches were outlawed.

In 1865, the church was formally recognized and it took the name \"Emanuel.\"

Roughly a century later it was also a flashpoint for controversy.

Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King led an estimated crowd of 1,500 demonstrators to the church in an April 1969 protest, according to \"Civil Rights in South Carolina: From Peaceful Protests to Groundbreaking Rulings.\" The demonstrators faced national guardsmen with fixed bayonets.

King was not arrested, the book states, but the church's pastor was, along with 900 others.

Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just \"star\" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.

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