Dorothea Dix was an inspirational woman and is a great role model for many people. She was a social reformer and an activist for the poverty-stricken and the mentally ill. During the Civil War, she was Superintendent of Army Nurses. She achieved many goals in her life and also accomplished more things in her life than many people.
Dorothea Dix came into the world on April 4, 1802 in Hampden, Maine. Her parents, Joseph and Mary, had three children, and Dorothea was the firstborn. They lived in Worcester, Massachusetts until Dorothea moved to Boston when she was twelve to live with her grandparents. She had an abusive childhood; her parents were alcoholics and her father was abusive. In 1821, she opened a school for women in Boston and also taught …show more content…
After becoming ill in 1836 and eventually lost the use of a lung, she traveled to Liverpool, England for eighteen months in hopes of recovering from her illness. While in England, she became friends with the Rathbone family; they influenced her with their beliefs of social reform, and introduced her to a movement about better care for the mentally ill. Dorothea’s grandmother passed away in 1837. She returned to Boston once again after hearing the news of her grandmother’s death. She spent the next few years in Washington, D.C. and in Oakland, Virginia because of her health. During this time she stopped teaching because she received a large inheritance that could support her. Dorothea finally regained her strength by 1841 and visited a jail in East Cambridge, Massachusetts that winter. She decided to investigate the prison after hearing rumors of the terrible conditions the prisoners had to live in. Some prisoners shared their concerns with her about the mentally ill prisoners kept there. She asked to see where they were, and to her shock, she found out the prisoners stayed in freezing cells …show more content…
She traveled through the Midwest and the South and continued to investigate hundreds of prisons, poorhouses, and penitentiaries. In 1848, she began start reforms at a federal level. It wasn’t until 1854 that the Senate voted for and approved her bill, but President Franklin Pierce decided to veto it. Two hospitals opened in Dorothea’s honor in North Carolina in 1856 and 1857. In 1855, Dorothea decided to travel to Europe to improve their prisons and poorhouses. She started in England and Scotland, but made her way to France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, and Germany. She met Pope Pius IX in Rome, and he had a new asylum created there. She impressed a Turkish doctor by the name of Cyrus Hamlin when she met him. Dorothea returned to New York in the fall of 1856, and for five years she continued her advocacy for the care of the mentally ill. In 1860, she succeeded in her mental health reform in multiple states. New Jersey, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania were among the states that had many funds donated to the treatment of the mentally
Dorothea Dix came into the world on April 4, 1802 in Hampden, Maine. Her parents, Joseph and Mary, had three children, and Dorothea was the firstborn. They lived in Worcester, Massachusetts until Dorothea moved to Boston when she was twelve to live with her grandparents. She had an abusive childhood; her parents were alcoholics and her father was abusive. In 1821, she opened a school for women in Boston and also taught …show more content…
After becoming ill in 1836 and eventually lost the use of a lung, she traveled to Liverpool, England for eighteen months in hopes of recovering from her illness. While in England, she became friends with the Rathbone family; they influenced her with their beliefs of social reform, and introduced her to a movement about better care for the mentally ill. Dorothea’s grandmother passed away in 1837. She returned to Boston once again after hearing the news of her grandmother’s death. She spent the next few years in Washington, D.C. and in Oakland, Virginia because of her health. During this time she stopped teaching because she received a large inheritance that could support her. Dorothea finally regained her strength by 1841 and visited a jail in East Cambridge, Massachusetts that winter. She decided to investigate the prison after hearing rumors of the terrible conditions the prisoners had to live in. Some prisoners shared their concerns with her about the mentally ill prisoners kept there. She asked to see where they were, and to her shock, she found out the prisoners stayed in freezing cells …show more content…
She traveled through the Midwest and the South and continued to investigate hundreds of prisons, poorhouses, and penitentiaries. In 1848, she began start reforms at a federal level. It wasn’t until 1854 that the Senate voted for and approved her bill, but President Franklin Pierce decided to veto it. Two hospitals opened in Dorothea’s honor in North Carolina in 1856 and 1857. In 1855, Dorothea decided to travel to Europe to improve their prisons and poorhouses. She started in England and Scotland, but made her way to France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, and Germany. She met Pope Pius IX in Rome, and he had a new asylum created there. She impressed a Turkish doctor by the name of Cyrus Hamlin when she met him. Dorothea returned to New York in the fall of 1856, and for five years she continued her advocacy for the care of the mentally ill. In 1860, she succeeded in her mental health reform in multiple states. New Jersey, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania were among the states that had many funds donated to the treatment of the mentally