Last Updated: 01 Apr, 2023 | Views: 479
Age: 85
Profession: Social Worker
Other Profession(s): Social Reformer
Famous For: American social reformer and activist
About (Profile/Biography)
Dorothea Dix (April 4, 1802 – July 17, 1887) was an American social reformer and activist who dedicated her life to improving conditions for the mentally ill. Dix worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the inhumane treatment of people with mental illness, advocating for their proper care and treatment in hospitals and asylums. Her tireless advocacy and lobbying efforts resulted in significant improvements in mental healthcare across the United States and Europe, and she is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern mental healthcare.
Dorothea Dix Career:
1836: While teaching at a women's prison in Massachusetts, Dix discovered the appalling conditions in which mentally ill people were being held. This sparked her lifelong advocacy for mental health reform.
1841: Dix conducted a statewide investigation of the treatment of mentally ill people in Massachusetts, which resulted in the establishment of a new state mental hospital.
1843: Dix traveled to Europe to study mental health practices there and to lobby for reform. She successfully convinced the British government to establish a commission to investigate the treatment of mentally ill people.
1845: Dix returned to the United States and began lobbying Congress for federal funding for mental health institutions.
1851: Dix's lobbying efforts led to the passage of a bill in Congress to establish the first federal mental health hospital in the United States, known as St. Elizabeths Hospital.
1861: At the outbreak of the Civil War, Dix was appointed the Superintendent of Army Nurses for the Union Army.
1865: After the end of the Civil War, Dix resumed her advocacy work for mental health reform, traveling across the country to investigate conditions in mental health institutions.
Dorothea Dix honour:
National Women's Hall of Fame: In 1979
Designation as a National Historic Landmark: In 1983
A statue in the U.S. Capitol: In 2016
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