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Definition: Dix, Dorothea Lynde from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

US educator and medical reformer. From 1841 she devoted herself to a campaign for the rights of the mentally ill, helping to improve conditions and treatment in public institutions for the insane in the USA, Canada, and Japan. During the American Civil War 1861–65, she served as superintendent of nurses.

Born in Hampden, Maine, and raised in Boston, Dix began her career as a teacher at a girls' school in Worcester, Massachusetts, and opened her own school in Boston 1821. Forced by ill health to retire in 1835, she travelled in Europe and published several books.

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Dix, Dorothea Lynde

DIX, DOROTHEA (1802–1887)

From Encyclopedia of Disability
American social reformer Dorothea Dix was a renowned social reformer and vocal advocate for the humane treatment of people with psychiatric disabilities. During her lifetime, Dix traveled extensively throughout the United States and abroad, visiting jails and almshouses to document the inhumane treatment of those with mental illness. She used these notes and observations to fight for the use of “moral treatment” in their care. Her reports regarding the treatment of those with severe mental illness were presented in numerous state legislatures, leading to the creation or enlargement of many hospitals designed specifically for the needs of this group. Dix believed that it was important to provide a place that focused specifically on assisting people with mental illness. She felt that the current system of care, one that focused on trying to address the needs of many disparate populations, including orphans, criminals, and paupers, was not specialized to adequately address of all these…
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Full text Article Dix, Dorothea (Lynde)

From The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography
American nurse and social reformer. She was born in Hampden, Maine, where her father was a farmer and a lay preacher. She had an unhappy childhood, during which she often had to take responsibility for two young brothers, and from the age of 12 she lived with her grandmother. When she was 19 she…
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Full text Article Dix, Dorothea

From The Great American History Fact-Finder
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Full text Article Dix, Dorothea Lynde (1802-1887)

From From Suffrage to the Senate: America's Political Women
Dix, Dorothea Lynde (1802-1887)
The first woman lobbyist to gain political influence at the state and national levels, Dorothea Dix sought improved care for homeless people and mentally ill people in the 1840s and 1850s, when little sympathy existed for them and when women had little political influence. Her reform career began in…
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Full text Article Dix, Dorothea L. (1802–1887)

From Encyclopedia of Special Education: A Reference for the Education of Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Disabilities and Other Exceptional Individuals
Dorothea Dix, a humanitarian and social reformer, was responsible for major reforms in the care of the mentally ill in the United States and abroad. Shocked by the common practice of incarcerating mentally ill people in jails with criminals, she spent a year and a half investigating conditions in…
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Full text Article Dorothea Dix (1802–1887)

From The American Women's Almanac: 500 Years of Making History
Dorothea Dix (1802–1887)
A humanitarian and tireless crusader for the mentally ill, Dorothea Dix was a pioneer in American health care reform who laid the foundation for the establishment of separate facilities for people with mental illnesses. When she began her work in 1841, only thirteen mental asylums existed in the…
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Full text Article Biographies

From The American Women's Almanac: 500 Years of Making History Full text Article Activists for Social Change
Grace Abbott (1878–1939) Jane Addams (1860–1935) Ella Baker (1903–1986) Emily Greene Balch (1897–1961) Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (1914–1999) Mary Breckinridge (1881–1965) Ruby Bridges (1954–) …
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Full text Article Dix, Dorothea

From American Biographies: American Social Leaders and Activists
Mental health reformer Dorothea Dix devoted her...
(b. 1802–d. 1887) mental health reformer Dorothea Lynde Dix worked to improve conditions for the mentally ill and to organize hospitals for the Union during the Civil War. In her famous Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts , published in 1843, she tells how insane persons were held in “ …
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Full text Article Dix, Dorothea

From Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics
Also known as: Dorothea Lynde Dix (b. 1802–d. 1887) health reformer, social reformer Dorothea Lynde Dix was born in Hampden, Maine, on April 4, 1802, the daughter of Mary and Joseph Dix. Her early life was difficult owing to her mother's mental illness and her father's alcoholism. Dix was…
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Full text Article Dix, Dorothea

From A to Z of Women: American Women Leaders and Activists
Mental health reformer Dorothea Dix devoted her...
Also known as: Dorothea Lynde Dix (b. 1802–d. 1887) health reformer, social reformer Dorothea Dix was a reformer for improved treatment of the mentally ill and served as superintendent of nurses during the Civil War. Dorothea Lynde Dix was born on April 4, 1802, in Hampden, Maine, the first child of…
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Full text Article Dix, Dorothea Lynde

From Gale Biographies: Popular People
Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887) was born to Joseph and Mary Dix on April 4, 1802, in Hampden, Maine. Her father was a farmer but became an itinerant Methodist preacher when he failed at farming. Dorothea Dix spent her early years in poverty, moving frequently and living a life she saw as bleak and…
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