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Dorothea Dix, advocate for the mentally ill
 Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-87), activist on behalf of the indigent insane, is credited with creating the first generation of American mental asylums. After conducting a statewide investigation of how her home state of Massachusetts cared for those who could not care for themselves, and who lacked family and friends, she published her findings in a report to the state legislature. The outcome was a bill to expand the state’s mental hospital in Worcester.
In 1848, Dix called for reform in the care of mentally ill patients in North Carolina. A year later, when the North Carolina State Medical Society was formed, construction of an institution for the care of mentally ill patients was authorized. The hospital, named in her honor, opened in 1856. Dix was also instrumental in the founding of the first public mental hospital in Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War (1861-65), Dix was appointed superintendent of Union Army nurses, and nurses who reported to her were known for providing care to soldiers on both sides of the conflict.
Photo credit: CORBIS |
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