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 Dorothea Dix (1802-1887)

Dorothea Dix was strongly against the societal perception and treatment of the mentally unstable, as well as the conditions of American prisons. After visiting a prison in 1841, she observed that they were unheated and unclean. They also didn’t have proper ventilation, and prisoners lived in their own waste. Inmates were all forced together, despite that they all suffered from incredibly different issues. Criminals, prostitutes, mentally ill, and even children shared cells together. She hoped to improve the condition of prisons and provide sanctuaries for the mentally unstable, who were treated as animals.

To begin her mission, Dix traveled all over the state of Massachusetts to penitentiaries, investigating and making observations of the conditions in which inmates lived. This made Dix one of the first women ever to conduct a social research project. She also wrote an account of what she had witnessed, which was presented in 1843 to Massachusetts legislature by Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, who also supported the mentally ill. Dix eventually expanded her experimentation from New Hampshire to Louisiana, studying the environments provided for the insane. She presented another chronicle to New York legislature in 1844 and two more to New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 1845.

Dix’s first account to the Massachusetts legislature resulted well, granting the money for an expansion of State Mental Hospital at Worcester. Her memorials were used for a decade in many states and resulted in the formation of numerous hospitals, as well as the upgrade of already standing facilities. Her efforts had major benefits: in total thirty-two mental hospitals, fifteen schools for the unintelligent, one school for the blind, and training facilities for nurses. She also continued research in England, Scotland, France, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Germany.

Dix worked incredibly hard for her success and took major risks. Women of Dix’s day did not ever travel alone- or travel to begin with. Women also generally ceased from involving themselves in any political decision, even if they had something to say. Dix was particularly passionate and committed to her cause. Her determination clearly paid off in the long run.

Dix found great success in working with the state government, but the federal government was a no-go. She proposed that the government give 12,500, 000 acres of land for public endowment and the income would be used to aid the blind, deaf, mute, and mentally ill. Senate and the House of Representatives approved the preposition, as well as President Millard Fillmore. However, Fillmore’s terms were over by the time the act reached the presidential office, and President Franklin Pierce vetoed the bill.

References:

Dr. Samuel G. Howe: Dr. Howe was another advocate of the mentally ill, and Director of the Perkins School for the Blind. Howe presented Dix’s memorials to Massachusetts’s legislature.

William Tuke: Tuke created the York Retreat, which was one of the first mental institutions ever. It campaigned humane treatment for the mentally unstable rather than the cruel treatment they had been given in prisons.

Ghareeb, LaDonna. "Dix, Dorothea (Informational Paper)." __Learning to Give - Curriculum Division of The LEAGUE__. 6 Oct. 2009 .

heart, purity of, and responsibility for the good of all society. A close friend of William Ellery Channing. "Dorothea Dix." __UUA Server for Other Organizations' Web Sites__. 6 Oct. 2009 .

Bumb, Jenn. "Dorothea Dix."__Webster University__. 6 Oct. 2009 .