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1802-1887 |
DOROTHEA DIX
Early Life:
Dorothea Dix had a very interesting childhood to say the least. She was born and raised in the town of Hampden, Maine. Dorothea's family was not the ideal family. They were very abusive, while many of them were also alcoholics. Dorothea was not fond of her family's lifestyle, and decided to run away from home at a very young age. She ran off to Boston In 1821, where she opened up her own school for the wealthy. However, Dorothea did not only focus her teachings on the fortunate. Years after opening her first school, she also opened up a school for the poor and unfortunate. She went from house to house teaching any child that was willing to learn. However, Dorothea was forced to halt her teaching ways due to a sharp decline in health. While Dorothea was sick, she decided to focus her works on her students due to her passion for teaching. While she was sick, she wrote many books and novels for her children that she taught. One of her most prestigious works was her Conversation of Common Things, which was published in 1824. After Dorothea gained her health back, she established a school for girls. This school was looked at as a model by many other potential schools in the area. Dorothea was able to manage this school until 1836 when her health became bad again.
Adult Life:
Dorothea soon developed a great interest in improving conditions for the mentally ill. In fact, spent her early adulthood devoting much of her time to doing exactly that. She first began her focus on this when she was teaching about God at the East Cambridge Jail. This was a woman's prison with very harsh conditions. Dorothea was angered by the terrible treatment of particularly the mentally ill in this prison. The prisoners basic needs were not being met, which angered Dorothea. She decided to take her case to court to try and improve these awful conditions. After this incident, Dorothea started traveling around the state to figure out the conditions in many prisons. She soon noticed that many other prisons that she visited also had extremely harsh and unnecessary conditions. One noteworthy accomplishment of Dorothea was when she created a document to improve the prisons. She presented this document to the Massachusetts legislature. This document discussed the proper conditions that the mentally ill inmates should live in. Because of this, the state mental hospital at Worcester's budget was increased by a rather large number. Luckily Dorothea did not limit her reforms just to a certain area, she also traveled the whole country establishing mental hospitals for the mentally ill.
Dorothea left the US for a short amount of time to continue her work in Europe. She returned back to the US shortly before the Civil War broke out. In 1861, when the was broke out, Dorothea was named superintendent of nurses. She was in competition with Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, but won. With this title, came many responsibilities. She never complained however, and always worked hard.

Accomplishments:
-founded/expanded more than thirty hospitals for mentally ill
-published five books
-was a nurse in the army during the Civil War
Citations:
Parry, Manon. "References." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 5 Sept. 1925. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
"Dorothea Dix BIO." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://www.biography.com/people/dorothea-dix-9275710>.
Sarah and Caroline
Emma Willard: Great job opening up a school! It is great that you made it accessible to both the rich and the poor. I also wrote books for my students at school.
ReplyDeleteAlex Danahuer and Cameron O'Nan
Prison Reforms
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the crusade you started to reform our prisons. You helped set the foundation for better prisons throughout America. You are a truly brave and inspiring person. Thanks again for helping the inmates with mental illnesses have a better life.
Love, Becca Ballard and Emily Linn
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTemperance Movement
ReplyDeleteThis woman is a great example of what can happen with the abuse of alcohol and the destruction that can come to families and individuals.
Eva Cash and Bridget Stallings