The Originators were a group of Human genetic engineers that left Earth after the Eugenics Wars.
The Originators were tasked by the Heran Modality government with creating Augments with their purpose being as living weapons in order to conquer the galaxy. Though this as the purpose of the government, many of the scientists on the project disagreed with this and purposely sabotaged the genetic codes of the growing offspring so that they would demonstrate more peaceful traits rather than the aggressive ones.
After being discovered by the government, the scientists known as the Originators were executed by the government and propaganda was spread to the newly developed Herans that they were created to be weapons for the Modality. After the 'old humans' were overthrown and executed, many Herans believed this and resented the Originators greatly. The mere mention of them would create intense feelings of anger towards them. The only people who knew the truth about the Originators were those Herans who were elected into the highest levels of their government and had access to the Originator file.
After the Modality government was overthrown during the Heran Crisis, the file and its contents were discovered by the Heran people who felt a lifetime of guilt being lifted off their shoulders on their origins. (TNG novel: Infiltrator)