Dorothea Dix

Personal Statement: Hello, my name is Dorothea Lynde Dix. I was born on April 4, 1802 in Hampden, Maine. I shared a small cottage with my parents and two younger brothers. My father, Joseph Dix, is a religious fanatic and a minister. Because my family is quite poor, I traveled to Boston to live with my grandparents, and then with my aunt in Worcester, Massachusetts. I began my teaching career at age fourteen, in my own home. Three years later in 1819, I founded the first school for girls with a charity school that young poor girls can attend for free. I spent my days teaching in the morning, and reading and writing throughout the evening and night. My most famous work is a textbook that goes by the name of "Conversations of the Common Things", published in 1824. In 1827, I was diagnosed with tuberculosis. I went on a retreat in the fall of 1830, and when I returned I continued teaching followed by taking care of my ill grandmother. I was so overwhelmed that I collapsed and lost the use of one of my lungs. Then, I moved to Liverpool, England for eighteen months in hope of a recovery. In England, I learned of two very important men that inspired me to investigate the dangerous situation of the insane in the United States. Their names were Philippe Pinel and William Tuke. After my grandmother passed in 1837, I received an inheritance that freed me from working as a teacher. I regained my strength and visited a jail in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. They led to to these filthy jail cells that were occupied with a number of mentally ill women. Shocked by this, I visited another 500 towns with the results of finding more mistreated mentally ill women. I was enraged. 

Issues: I was an american activist that believed that the mentally ill should not be mistreated. I strongly believed that they could be cured and helped and I took a large part in mental health reform and education. Also, I was trying to enforce the idea of equality for women as much as I possibly could.

Solutions: To solve this issue, I created schools and the first mental asylums. I wrote many memorials to state legislatures, demanding to protect my suffering gender. My petition was passed and a bill which provided funds for the mentally ill at the Worcester State Hospital. I extended this and brought this issue to the federal courts. Congress denied my requests. I wanted to begin a new project that proposed that revenue collected from the sale of public land to be used to establish a federal fund for the mentally ill, blind, deaf, and mute across the nation. They disregarded my requests until 1854, after I described all of the disturbing things I saw at the jails. My bill was vetoed but my determination did not end there. I was not being heard loud enough. My determination led me to form institutions and asylums that treated the mentally ill with proper care in North America and Europe.

Relationship to others: At the dinner party I would be most comfortable talking to women rights activists such as Catherine Beecher, Margaret Fuller, and Angelina Grimke. Also I would like to sit with people who are interested in education reform. I would not feel comfortable sitting next to Susan B. Anthony because she is a feminist.

Dorothea Dix

Personal Statement: 

Hello, my name is Dorothea Dix and I was born on April 4, 1802 in a quaint Maine town known as Hampden. I grew up with my parents but fled to my grandmother's house at the age of 12 to escape from my abusive and alcoholic father. While my childhood with my parents was rather hard it was the only time that I got an education, because shortly after I moved in with my grandmother I began teaching children in a school that I opened in an attempt to give poor and neglected children a fair educational opportunity. Along with teaching children, I also volunteered to teach the women at a women's prison which is where I began to notice the injustice regarding the treatment of the mentally ill prisoners. Such a sight gave me the motivation to push for reform of the prisons and mental hospitals, and it was my efforts that put an end to the cruel and torturous treatment of mentally ill patients.

Issues:

I am an American activist on behalf of the mentally unstable and have dedicated a majority of my life in an attempt to better both the mental facilities and the treatments of those patients. Ever since I began teaching at the women's prison I realized the cruelty behind the care of the inmates with mental disorders. I was both shocked and appalled at the fact that these poor people were subjected to abuse; lack of food, drink, clothing, and proper bedding; and forcibly chained up because of a mental disorder that's far out of their control. With the motivation of my religious ways, I refused to stand by idly while these people suffered simply because of poor care.

Solutions:

My strong objection to the treatment of the mentally ill in both the prisons and hospitals led me to work for reform of not only the physical being of the locations but also of the system. It was a big and difficult task however I was determined to make the change and give mentally ill patients the help and treatment they need and deserve. In order to make such a change possible I worked to pass legislation that would grant these patients a proper facility to stay in rather than be locked up along with dangerous prisoners. After many attempts, laws were passed and the change slowly became evident. Aside from legal action, my attempts could be considered successful simply because I was able to get the word out and raise awareness of the issue at hand. While unfortunately many people believed that the treatment of the mentally ill was fair thus looking down on me and my efforts, it didn't stop me from doing what's really right and fighting to spread awareness and change regarding the cruel treatment of the mentally ill.

Relationship to Others:

Aside from my own attempt to reform the prisons and asylums, there were many other reforms circulating the nation. I resist the abolition movement and that along with my undecided stance regarding the abolition of slavery brought much controversy and criticism on my behalf. On the other hand, I find the education of women to be very critical; however I never joined a feminism movement or publicly announced my support for the cause which is why being around feminists such as Susan B. Anthony would be rather uncomfortable.