State Secret: Thousands Secretly Sterilized N.C. Woman Among 65,000 Sterilized by Gov't, Often Without Their Knowledge, in Twentieth Century WINDFALL, N.C., May 15, 2005 — Beneath the surface of this Southern town, with its lush evergreens and winding riverbanks, is a largely forgotten legacy of pain, secrecy, and human indignity. "My heart still bleeds, and it will forever bleed, because of what had happened to me," local resident Elaine Riddick said. From the early 1900s to the 1970s, some 65,000 men and women were sterilized in this country, many without their knowledge, as part of a government eugenics program to...