Dorothea Dix By Samantha Gustafson Family Born on

Dorothea Dix By Samantha Gustafson

Family • Born on April 4 th 1802 to a poor family from Hampden, Maine • Full name: Dorothea Lynde Dix (never married, no kids) • Father – Joseph Dix • Mother – Mary Bigelow Dix • Two younger brothers Charles and Joseph

Father • Joseph William Dix • Born: March 26 th 1778 • Died: April 21 st 1821 • Methodist preacher • Moved a lot and constantly poor • Prone to alcoholism and depression • Abusive alcoholic (fathers death) • Taught Dorothea to read and write • Came from a rich family • Got terminated from Harvard University • Unmotivated, irresponsible, and rebellious • Family disapproved his marriage to Mary • Worked at a book store to get away from family after marriage

Mother • Mary Bigelow Dix • Born: July 15 th 1779 • Died: May, 1837 • Suffered bouts of depression • Chorea or Epilepsy • Believed to have been an alcoholic as well. • Came from a poor family

Brothers Charles Wesley Dix • Born: October, 1812 • Went to work at sea • Died in 1837 of fever aboard a merchant vessel off the coast of Africa. • Never married Joseph Dix Jr. • Born: January, 1815 • Died: 1878 • Prosperous merchant • Owned a dry goods store in Boston • Married (Sara), 1 daughter (Eva Clara Dix)

Grandmother • Dorothy Lynde Dix (Madam Dix) • Born: May 23 rd, 1746 • Died: April 29 th, 1837 - Influenza • Mother of Joseph Dix • Wealthy • Not well educated, emotionless, intense, unsympathetic, and believed to be emotionally abusive • Picked on Dorothea’s insecurities • Resented Dorothea for Pursuing careers rather than remaining at home to fulfill her “duties. ”

Childhood • Never got the affection and love she desired from her parents • Parents were high-strung and focused on their own problems • Parents believed in harsh punishment starting at 1 year old • Methodist Discipline – Children are to be seen, not heard (Crying, disobeying, begging) • Dorothea suffered physical and emotional abuse as a child • The abuse lead to a lot of built up anger Dorothea used to separate herself from her parents (Clamed to be an orphan)

Childhood • Ran away from her home at the age of 12 to live with her grandmother in Boston • Was able to enroll in several years of education • Given many chores and responsibilities • One of her best childhood memories was when she got to make a shirt while being supervised closely by her grandmother • Spent a lot of her adolescence bouncing between her grandmother’s house and her Aunt Sara Fiske’s house who also helped to care for her brothers. • Desired to become independent and strong due to her heightened sense of ambition • Wished to raise her brothers so she could love and teach them properly • Drove her into becoming a teacher

Teaching • Opened a school for children in Worcester, Massachusetts in 18161819 • She was 14 years old at the time of opening, 17 at time of closure • Ran the school from a room in one of her uncle’s buildings (few benches, chairs, and cots). • She would wear very long skirts and sleeves so she appeared to be more adultlike and respectable • Ran the school with stern authority • The school granted her the independence she was craving

Teaching • In 1821 Dorothea open an elementary school out of the Dix Mansion where she lived with her grandmother. • Covered grammar, reading, arithmetic, manners, and religious versus/scriptures • Received students from prominent family's all over Boston and surrounding areas • Later opened another school within Dix Mansion that catered to poor students • Suffered from many illnesses along with depression but still taught classes • In her free time she published her first book “Conversations on Common Things” (1825) • Book sold successfully • Closed schools in 1830

Teaching • Opened an all girls school in the Dix Mansion in 1831 • Accepted boarding students, upper class students, and poor students • Offered free lessons to poor students as well • Covered character building, religion, morals, natural history, French, astronomy, and mineralogy • Started to become known as a reformer • Dorothea was greatly respected by her students and genuinely cared for her students well being. • Closed in 1837 due to Dorothea reoccurring bad health and traveled to Europe • Rathbones

Prisons • Got offered to teach Sunday school to women at the East Cambridge House of Correction on March 28 th, 1841. • Several women suffered from mental illnesses and were kept with prison population • Conditions were awful; no heat, little ventilation, and terrible hygiene • Court ordered the jail to provide heat to inmates along with the basic necessities • This was where her passion to help the mentally ill all started • She was able to get a promise from the court that the women would be given warm rooms

Institutions • 1839 Dorothea visited a hospital for the mentally ill in south Boston • Replaced the Boston Lunatic Hospital • 1 out of ever 6 regained their sanity • Housed poor and wealthy people that were considered incurable • Patients read, played games, gardened, and could move around the grounds freely, housed in apartment like dwellings, and everyone ate together. • Patients demeanor was considered healthy, happy, and content • Dorothea planned to base her ideas off this hospital

Campaign • From 1841 through 1845 Dorothea traveled to many prisons and documented the treatment of mentally ill in prisons • Began to seek out support from legislators through letters (Charles Dickens) • She proposed the creation of mental asylums to house people suffering from mental illnesses • The asylums would allow the proper care and services to be provided to the mentally ill • Eventually an expansion to a state mental hospital in Worchester was granted in 1843

Land Bill • Dorothea’s first congressional petition • Printed on June, 17 th 1848 • 10 million acres of land for mentally ill, blind, and deaf • Due to Dorothea the U. S. House of Representatives and Senate passed the bill requesting land be provided to build institutions for the mentally ill in 1851 (shortly tabled). • Bill ended up being vetoed by president Franklin Pierce in 1854 (states would demand federal aid) • Dorothea then went state by state getting land or expansions granted to build proper institutions for the mentally

Institutions • While Dorothea was traveling state by state getting land or expansions granted to build proper institutions for the mentally ill • Senator John Adams Dix (New York) and Horace Mann (House of Representatives) • Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina • Dorothea also went to Europe and got the pope to construct a new hospital • 1852 Dorothea helped the U. S. senate generate $100, 000 for an establishment of an institution for the district of Colombia and U. S. Army and Navy

Institutions • Between 1850 -1854 she worked on reforming legislation in Canada with Hugh Bell (mayor of Halifax) • She visited many prisons in 1843, 1844, 1848, and 1849 and found in similar conditions as ones in the U. S. • Unfortunately the bills failed (Not a social problem) • They were able to get legislation to grant 5, 000 pounds to fund a facility for the mentally ill in 1853 • In 1856 she also helped gain funding for the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington D. C. • Later renamed Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital • Due to constructional issues it wasn’t finished till 1874

Civil War • When the civil war started in 1861 Dorothea volunteered to be a nurse within one week (Washington) • Mental hospitals were considered mental hospitals for wounded soldiers • Two months in she was promoted to Superintendent of Union Army Nurses but was • Chose to work independently and confidently did not get along well with others • Rented a town house as a clearing station for nurses (certified nurses) • Dorothea finished her work as a nurse at the end of the war in 1866 (64 years old)

Post-war activity • She wanted to build her relationships with the super intendants of her institutions • Wrote letters day and night • In 1866 Dorothea raised $8, 000 to build a monument to the Union dead • For the 6, 000 American soldiers who died (memorialize self-sacrifice)

• Due to the many illnesses Dorothea suffered from she died in 1887. • She lived her last years in Morris Plains state hospital in New Jersey. Which was established in honor of all the reforming she has done throughout her life. • Due to Dorothea’s efforts 32 institutions were built all over the united states

Discussion • Do you think that Dorothea would have had a more or less difficult time achieving all her accomplishments if she was a man? • How big of an impact do you think her childhood had who she was as an adult? • A lot of the mentally ill are still being put in prisons today, how do you think Dorothea would react to this?

Sources • • https: //www. biography. com/people/dorothea-dix-9275710 http: //www. history. com/topics/womens-history/dorothea-lynde-dix http: //faculty. webster. edu/woolflm/dorotheadix. html http: //www. anb. org/view/10. 1093/anb/9780198606697. 001. 0001/anb 9780198606697 -e-1500181 • Voice For the Mad: The Life of Dorothea Dix – David Gollaher • Life of Dorothea Lynde Dix – Francis Tiffany • The Lady and the President – Charles M. Snyder