Dorothea Dix

Personal Statement:

Hello, my name is Dorothea Dix and I was born April 4, 1802 in Hampden, Maine. I attended school and learned to read and write and was even in advanced classes. I had a bad childhood and ended up living with my aunt for many years. I am very passionate about teaching and started a school for little girls (whom i taught privately because girls were not allowed to go to school). I also volunteered to teach the women at a prison for Sunday school. I was also an army nurse during the American civil war and set guidelines for future nurse candidates, although some women may hate me for it. I am most notable in history for my restless spirit and determination in helping make things fair. I have a strong opinion and would not stand by and watch injustices being made. I was responsible for establishing and enlarging 32 mental hospitals in America. I also got the legislature to promise to stop imprisoning people with mental illnesses.

Issue(s):

I am an activist on behalf of the indigent insane. I wanted them to have better facilities and be treated with care unlike they were at the time, people didn't care about them.I wanted facilities built, that would help people and their conditions, especially those who were imprisoned. I went to teach the women at a jail once for Sunday school and saw the horrible conditions they were in, and was even more outrage to see that they put mentally disabled people in the same space as violent criminals. In prisons they had a system were family members or prison workers would take care of the needs of the mentally disabled inmates. This system often operated under closed walls, thus shielding people from the abuse that was going on.They would be beaten and tortured. I was personally motivated by my own deeply held religious convictions and after careful study, knew I had to stick with my beliefs. People should not be treated like animals especially if they are in need of special help.

Solution(s):

I sought a total reform of the system, of both its physical structures, and more importantly, its programs and systems. I wanted legislation passed that would grant mentally ill people homes and treatment to go to, and for them to not be imprisoned along with the other convicts. My goal was for laws to be put in place that would help the well being of these people. I was successful in getting the legislature to pass these laws and was even able to build some of these homes myself. One of the obstacles that I faced was a lack of modern technology and transportation. It was hard for news of my work to travel because of the lack of radio or TV at the time. I also had to travel to a lot of places in order to help get my reform started and that was hard to do because since there were no things like planes around, it took a long time to get to destinations. Some people criticized me because they thought that the insane/disabled were being treated fairly. Some people even believed that torturing and beating mental patients helped rid their bodies of the “devil”. But I knew better and wasn't about to let these inhumane things keep happening.

Relationship to Others:

I am still unsure the abolition slavery and resist the abolition movement. Although I have significant political influence and promote the education of women, I never joined the wider feminist movement or lent public support to their cause in fear of damaging my own movement. Even though I am not against any of these movements it would be uncomfortable/awkward to sit next to people like Susan B. Anthony who were feminists, or people like Frederick Douglass who supported the abolition movement. I would feel comfortable sitting next to people who were reformers of the education system and supported the temperance movements.