How Sonoma County became the dark center of America’s forced sterilization movement

Santa Rosa Press Democrat –  October 21, 2021

“Institutions collect secrets when they stand for 130 years. The stately, tree-shaded campus of the Sonoma Developmental Center may harbor more than most. Closed in 2018.

It’s a tranquil place these days, the steady stream of neighborhood walkers diverted only by an occasional team of firefighters or police units practicing tactical operations in the empty buildings. But the facility’s 1,670 oak-shaded acres, which straddle Arnold Drive in the tiny community of Eldridge, belie a bleak past, a history that the state of California is only now beginning to redress.”

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