North Carolina residents who might have been subjected to a state-sanctioned sterilization program could be qualified for victims compensation under a program seeking victims and their survivors in Greenville.

A free legal clinic is being held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today (doors open until 5 p.m.) at the Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Center at the corner of Fifth and Tyson streets. The Center for Civil Rights, along with volunteer attorneys and University of North Carolina law students, will assist people in filing claims for compensation from the N.C. Eugenics Asexualization and Sterilization Compensation Program. Claims must be filed by June 30.

Eugenics refers to the intentional and selective breeding of humans and animals to rid the population of characteristics deemed unfit by those administering this practice. In the United States, eugenics was carried out by individuals, nonprofit organizations and state governments that felt human reproduction should be controlled.

The N.C. Eugenics Board program was created by the Legislature in 1933 after a 1929 state sterilization law was ruled constitutional by the N.C. Supreme Court. The program was a part of the former N.C. Department of Public Welfare, and petitions for sterilization were considered by a five-member panel of state officials.

In the late 1940s, the Department of Public Welfare began to promote increased sterilizations as one of several solutions to poverty and illegitimacy. In the late 1950s, a dramatic rise of sterilizations occurred among women who did not reside in state institutions and among blacks. Prior to the 1950s, many of the sterilization orders primarily affected people residing in state institutions. All 100 counties in North Carolina participated in the program.

Between 1929 and 1974, nearly 7,600 documented males and females were sterilized by choice, force or coercion. The youngest victims were 10 years old. About 85 percent of victims were female, and 40 percent of victims were minorities, including blacks and Native Americans, according to a report from the N.C. Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims.

The number of victims alive today is unknown, officials said

The N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation was established in 2010 as a division of the N.C. Department of Administration to compensate victims who forcibly were sterilized by North Carolinas Eugenics Board program. The foundation functioned as a clearinghouse to assist victims, serving as the primary point of contact for victims, potential victims and the general public seeking guidance about North Carolinas former sterilization laws and program.

In 2011 and 2012, foundation staff also supported the separate Gubernatorial Task Force on Eugenics Compensation established under Executive Order 83. In July, Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law Senate Bill 402, which created the Eugenics Asexualization and Sterilization Compensation Program. The Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims also was established under that law to determine whether an individual qualifies for compensation, to assist an individual filing a claim, and to implement an outreach program to notify possible qualified victims of the claim process.

In addition to todays event at the IGCC, those who believe that they or someone in their family might have been sterilized under the N.C. Eugenics Board can contact the Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims information line at 1-877-550-6013 or 919-807-4270. Callers seeking to have their names checked against N.C. Eugenics Board program records by filing a claim for compensation will be mailed a form. Claim forms also are available at http://www.sterilizationvictims.nc.gov.

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Clinic to help eugenics victims