Dorothea Dix

1
Dorothea Dix

• By Allie Piacenti Becca MacLean
• If I am cold, they are cold if I am weary, they
  are distressed if I am alone, they are
  abandoned.

2
Early Life

• Born April 4, 1802 in Hampden, Maine
• Father was an abusive alcoholic and her mother
  was in poor mental health
• Went to live with her Grandmother at age 12
• Began teaching classes for girls at age 15

I never knew childhood.
3
Accomplishments

• Published several books for children and their
  parents. Ex. Conversations on Common Things
  (1824)
• Taught Sunday School class for women inmates at
  East Cambridge Jail
• 1843- Proposed a plan to the MA legislature for
  improvement of facilities for mentally ill
  (passed)
• Opened 32 mental hospitals, 15 schools for the
  feeble-minded, a school for the blind, and
  numerous training facilities for nurses

I tell what I have seen.
4
Accomplishments (cont.)

• Helped to establish libraries in mental
  hospitals, prisons, and more
• Traveled throughout 13 European countries in 2
  years and fought for the mentally ill there after
  failing to pass a federal land plot in the US
• 1845- published Remarks on Prisons and Prison
  Discipline in the United States to advocate for
  change in the treatments of ordinary prisoners
• Named Superintendent of the Union Army Nurses

Some say these things cannot be remedied I know
they are.
5
Effects

• Met with Pope Pius IX and influenced him to make
  a series of improvements in Rome
• Influenced a bill for the enlargement of the
  Worcester Insane Asylum
• 1881- her efforts contributed to opening the
  state hospital in Trenton, NJ
• Inspired legislators in 15 states and Canada to
  establish hospitals for the mentally ill
• US nursing pioneer

There are few cases in history where a social
movement of such proportions can be attributed to
the work of a single individual. Kovach
6
Final Efforts

• Ill health throughout her entire life and her
  travels
• Admitted herself into the Trenton Hospital that
  she helped found
• Remained there for 6 years until her death on
  July 17, 1887

Dix was the most effective advocate of
humanitarian reform in American mental
institutions during the nineteenth century.
Goldenson
7
Bibliography

• Primary
• Dix, Dorothea Lynde. Remarks on Prisons and
  Prison Discipline in the United States.
  Whitefish, MT Kessinger, 2007. Print.
• "Memorial to the Massachusetts Legislature
  (1843)." Eca.state.gov/. Web. 05 Apr. 2011.
  lthttp//eca.state.gov/education/engteaching/pubs/A
  mLnC/br15.htmgt.
• Secondary
• "Dorothea Dix." NNDB Tracking the Entire World.
  Web. 05 Apr. 2011. lthttp//www.nndb.com/people/415
  /000115070/gt.
• "Dorothea Dix." United States History. Web. 05
  Apr. 2011. lthttp//www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1092
  .htmlgt.
• "Dorothea Dix." Webster University. Web. 05 Apr.
  2011. lthttp//www.webster.edu/woolflm/dorotheadix
  .htmlgt.
• Reddi, Vasantha. "Biography of Dorothea Lynde
  Dix." The Center for Nursing Advocacy. Web. 05
  Apr. 2011. lthttp//www.nursingadvocacy.org/press/p
  ioneers/dix.htmlgt.