Participation: Mariana Blaceri & Jackie Mena

 Dorothea Lynne Dix was born April 4, 1802 to Joseph Dix and Mary Bigelow Dix.  Mother was not in a healthy mental state, and the father was an abusive alcoholic.  Harsh conditions led her to care for 3 young brothers and later states “I never knew childhood.

 At age 15 she was faced with her first class of 20 students between the of 6-8.  By the time she was 20 she began to teach two classes.

 At the age of 39, Dix volunteered to teach Sunday School to women inmates at The East Cambridge Jail.  While teaching at the jail, Dix became aware of the harsh living conditions pertaining to especially to the mentally ill.  Seeing this helped her take matters into her own hands and change how the mentally ill were treated not only in MA, but in the newley growing America.

 After witnessing the conditions, she immediately took the information to her local court and won.  She then visited many jailhouses around Massachusetts to ensure the mentally ill were housed separately from the jailhouses.  Later every jailhouse in MA was investigated to relocate the mentally ill from the jailhouses.

 Once MA was fully investigated, Dix managed to travel along the east side of the Mississippi River.  She established 32 mental hospitals, 15 school for the feeble-minded, a house for the blind, and many training facilities for nurses.

 After being denied 5 million acres of land to be set aside by the government to aid the mentally ill, she grew tired and decided to travel.  She traveled to England, Scotland, France, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Germany.  Whilst there she inspected many jailhouses and almshouses and successfully reformed the way the mentally ill were treated.

 In 1854, she returned from her crusade and continued to reform the jailhouses in the states she had missed before.  The state of New Jersey to notice in Dix and decided to build a mental hospital through her efforts.

 Today, Dorothea Dix is described as "the most effective advocate of humanitarian reform in American mental institutions during the nineteenth century”.  Due to her efforts, America now has mental facilities available for anyone in need.  All public schools today have aides to help students with special needs.

 Dorothea Dix died July 17,  Although Dix has died her achievements have not.

The painting pertains to Dorothea’s beliefs that any person with a mental illness should be treated fairly. Art by Mary Cassatt

  dix.html dix.html  orotheadix.html orotheadix.html