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Life at Home
Dorothea Dix was born to Joseph Dix and Marry Dix. Her mother was not in good health and her father was an alcoholic, so she was removed from their care in 1814 and went to live with her grandmother. Removed from her parents, she was able to focus on her future more and would eventually open a school at her grandmother's house. -
Establishing a School
Her grandfather died in 1821 and in that same year she established a school. She began it in her grandmother's house. She realized she had a passion for educating and helping others, and remained as a teacher for the next fifteen years. -
Writing a Book
In 1824, Dorothea Dix wrote and published Conversations on Common Things; or, Guide to Knowledge: With Questions. It was a book of facts for teachers written in the style of a conversation between a mother and a daughter, and directed at the young women who dominated the teaching profession. The book showed Dix's belief that women and men should receive the same education. -
Failing Health
By 1836, she fell very ill. She was plagued by fatigue and constant breakdown, so her doctor recommended a long restorative trip to Europe. There, she met prison reformer Elizabeth Fry, and Samuel Tuke, founder of the York Retreat for the mentally ill. Both of those individuals helped take her down the road of becoming an advocate for those with mental illnesses. -
Becoming an Activist
In 1841, Dix volunteered to teach Sunday school classes to female convicts in East Cambridge Jail. She witnessed the mistreatment of those with mental illnesses and the horrid living conditions of the jail. Shocked by what she had seen, she decided to fight for reforms for mental hospitals all over Boston. -
Fighting for Better Conditions
After witnessing those conditions, she went to court and battled for better conditions and better treatment of those with mental illnesses in mental hospitals. Dorothea then proceeded to visit mental institutions were those with mental illnesses were housed all over Massachusetts. She submitted a pamphlet with her findings in it to the legislature. The pamphlet won legislative support and funds were set aside for the expansion of Worcester State Hospital. -
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Travelling Around the U.S.
She then proceeded to travel to other states, travelling to mental institutions, taking notes about the conditions there, and writing pamphlets in request for better treatment. She helped found over thirty hospitals and several training facilities for nurses. She also played a large part in establishing libraries in prisons and mental hospitals. -
Requests to the Government
After travelling throughout the United States, she submitted a document to the United States Congress in 1848 asking for five million acres to be set aside to be used for the care of those with mental illnesses. The bill was approved in both houses of the government but was vetoed by President Franklin Pierce. She was way ahead of her time advocating for those with mental illnesses, and would go on to Europe to help there. -
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Travelling throughout Europe
Exhausted from her failed efforts of trying to pass a bill to get more land for mental hospitals, she went to inspect jails and hospitals for the mentally ill in Europe. She conducted investigations in Scotland, Rome, and the Channel Islands. She made a significant effect there in Europe and helped establish the Scottish Lunacy Commission to oversee reforms for mental hospitals in Scotland. -
Serving in the Civil War
Dorothea Dix was appointed Superintendent of Army Nurses in the Union Army. While she was constantly at odds doctors and fellow nurses, she continued to serve through the war. She had put aside her previous work to serve in the war, and was well-respected for it.
