The Thanksgiving table may not seem to be the ideal place to nurse old wounds, but the gathering does provide an opportunity for those who think they or a loved one may have been affected by the N.C. Eugenics Board program to review their family history and seek verification through the N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation.
If you are concerned that you or your family may have been part of the N.C. Eugenics Board program between 1929 and 1974, or if you just have questions, we encourage you to contact us. No one should ever be forced or coerced to share the intimate details of their past, but if there is a desire to know more, we stand ready to provide assistance.
An easy way to reach us is through the Foundation’s toll-free hotline: 1-877-550-6013 (toll-free in North Carolina) or 919-807-4270. The hotline operates from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Dozens of inquiries about the verification process have been received by the Foundation since the hotline was established on Oct. 26. Callers are provided a verification form, which will be used to help determine whether an individual was among the estimated 7,600 men and women who were sterilized under the state Eugenics program. Persons impacted by the N.C. Eugenics Board program were born in or prior to 1961.
Gov. Bev Perdue established the Foundation, which functions as a clearinghouse. In its last session, the N.C. General Assembly provided funding for the Foundation to begin planning to carry out its mission to provide justice and compensate victims who were forcibly sterilized by the State of North Carolina. No type or form of compensation is guaranteed through this verification process.