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Dorothea was born April 4, 1802, in Hampden, Maine. Dix passed away on July 17, 1887, meaning she died at the age of 85 years old! In the article that I have found about Dorothea Dix it says she "was an American educator, social reformer, and humanitarian whose devotion to welfare of the mentally ill led to widespread reform in the United States and abroad." (pgh. 1.)

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Why Dorothea is important is because she valued the how those who were exceptional in her time were being treated. Dix then began a Sunday school in a prison and saw how the exceptional prisoners were being treated. It is explained in this article that exceptional prisoners "were left unclothed, in darkness, without heat or sanitary facilities; some were chained to the walls and flogged." ("definition of flog: beat with a whip or stick as punishment or torture." definition from google.) Due to her seeing this it caught her interest of seeing how other prisons treated other exceptional prisoners, her observations lasted 2 years!

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Dorothea Dix, in full Dorothea Lynde Dix, (born April 4, 1802, Hampden, District of Maine, Massachusetts [now in Maine], U.S.-died July 17, 1887, Trenton, New Jersey), American educator, social reformer, and humanitarian whose devotion to the welfare of the mentally ill led to widespread reforms in the United States and abroad.

Dix left her unhappy home at age 12 to live and study in Boston with her grandmother. By age 14 she was teaching in a school for young girls in Worcester, Massachusetts, employing a curriculum of her own devising that stressed the natural sciences and the responsibilities of ethical living. In 1821 she opened a school for girls in Boston, where until the mid-1830s periods of intensive teaching were interrupted by periods of ill health. She eventually abandoned teaching and left Boston.

After nearly two years in England Dix returned to Boston, still a semi-invalid, and found to her amazement that she had inherited a sum of money sufficient to support her comfortably for life. But her Calvinist beliefs enjoined her from inactivity. Thus in 1841, when a young clergyman asked her to begin a Sunday school class in the East Cambridge House of Correction in Massachusetts, she accepted the challenge. In the prison she first observed the inhumane treatment of insane and mentally disturbed persons, who were incarcerated with criminals, irrespective of age or sex. They were left unclothed, in darkness, without heat or sanitary facilities; some were chained to the walls and flogged. Profoundly shocked, Dix traveled for nearly two years throughout the state, observing similar conditions in each institution she examined. In January 1843 she submitted to the Massachusetts legislature a detailed report of her thoroughly documented findings. Her dignity, compassion, and determination were effective in helping to pass a bill for the enlargement of the Worcester Insane Asylum. Dix then moved on to Rhode Island and later New York.

In the next 40 years Dix inspired legislators in 15 U.S. states and in Canada to establish state hospitals for the mentally ill. Her unflagging efforts directly effected the building of 32 institutions in the United States. She carried on her work even while on a convalescent tour of Europe in 1854-56, notably in Italy, where she prevailed upon Pope Pius IX to inspect personally the atrocious conditions she had discovered. Where new institutions were not required, she fostered the reorganization, enlargement, and restaffing-with well-trained, intelligent personnel-of already existing hospitals.

In 1845 Dix published Remarks on Prisons and Prison Discipline in the United States to advocate reforms in the treatment of ordinary prisoners. In 1861 she was appointed superintendent of army nurses for Civil War service. She was ill-suited to administration, however, and had great difficulty with the post. After the war she returned to her work with hospitals. When she died, it was in a hospital that she had founded.

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Dorothea Dix | Mental Health Reform, Civil War Nurse, Activist

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Dorothea Dix, American educator, social reformer, and humanitarian whose devotion to the welfare of the mentally ill led to widespread reforms in the United States and abroad. Dix left her unhappy home at age 12 to live and study in Boston with her grandmother.

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Due to Dorothea then having a passion to figure out how the exceptional prisoners were treated; it brought her to write and submit a report about it and send it to the Massachusetts legislature. Sending in that report helped "pass a bill for the enlargement of the Worcester Insane Asylum." She also inspired more hospitals to be made and "directly affected the building of 32 institutions in the United States." She also helped reorganize hospitals because there were no available institutions due to them not being required in those areas.

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Something so cool about Dorothea was she published "Remarks on Prisons and Prison Discipline in the United States," so that this problem could be addressed everywhere rather than only the places she personally affected. Some random facts about Dorothea is she was "appointed superintendent of army nurses for Civil War services." After this she wanted to go back to working in hospitals until she sadly passed away in a hospital that was founded by her!

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Dorotheas connections to special education is all throughout her work, whether that be her report she made to go to the Massachusetts legislature or the work she did by making a book to be published so that her interest in making sure exceptional prisoners get the help they deserve. She has done so much to help those who are exceptional become seen. Dorothea meant a lot on her day to those with exceptional attributes because not a lot of people cared for the exceptional in the 1800s. Those exceptional prisoners may not have known they had someone looking out for them, but Dorothea knew what she had to do in her heart.

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Dorothea had the passion and guts to make sure those who were being mistreated felt heard when they could not speak, how that will help me in the future is by trying to be the voice my kids will need when they feel unheard or unable to speak. I respect Dorothea with how she saw the problem and made sure it was solved, but not before she told the story, to be the voice of those who are not heard or are just ignored is inspirational and I will definitely use it in my teachings.