RALEIGH, N.C. – State officials are dedicating a historical marker to remember the forced sterilization program that affected thousands of people in North Carolina.

The North Carolina Highway Historical Marker will be dedicated Monday at the North Carolina Community Colleges building in Raleigh.

Social reformers advocated for eugenics programs a century ago as a way to cleanse society of the mentally handicapped and mentally ill. North Carolina adopted its program in 1929 and aggressively continued the program after World War II, targeting the program at the poor.

About 7,600 people were sterilized between 1929 and 1975. A state House panel has recommended that the state give $20,000 to victims of the eugenics program.