CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -

Victims of North Carolina's Eugenics board are finally receiving the government's apology in the form of a check and a letter.

Between 1929 and 1974, the state decided more than 7600 people should not be able to have children. They were forcibly sterilized.

A Charlotte woman now has her check and a letter from the governor, acknowledging a dark chapter of North Carolina's history.

Janice Black and Sadie Long are best friends. For the last three years, the two have been working together to get North Carolina lawmakers to acknowledge what the Eugenics Board did to hundreds of people.

"She lost something, that a woman that carries and gives birth has done, that she will never ever be able to experience," Long said.

At one point, they were ready to sue.

With a letter from Governor Pat McCrory and a check dated October 27, 2014, the fight is over."I thank God that it's over," Black said.

Black cleans surgical machines at CMC Main the same place she was operated on in 1971,"I just go in and do my work. I don't think about that."

But Sadie Long can't forget the first time she saw Black's scar on her stomach."We're like sisters and I said what happened to you. That's when she said they had me fixed," Long explained.

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Sterilization victim responds to check and letter from Governor