Dorothea Dix

(noun)

(April 4, 1802–July 17, 1887) An American activist on behalf of the indigent insane who, through a vigorous program of lobbying state legislatures and the U.S. Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums.

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(proper noun)

An American activist who, through a vigorous program of lobbying state legislatures and the U.S. Congress, advocated on behalf of the mentally ill and created the first generation of mental asylums in the United States.

Related Terms

Examples of Dorothea Dix in the following topics:

  • Prisons and Asylums

    • An important social justice reformer in American history, Dorothea Dix conducted a statewide investigation from 1840 to 1841 of how her home state of Massachusetts cared for the poor and mentally ill.
    • After her survey, Dix published the results in a fiery report, "A Memorial," addressed to the state legislature.
    • Dix was influential in the establishment of Illinois's first state mental hospital and the construction of a hospital in North Carolina for the care of mentally ill patients, which was named in honor of Dorothea Dix and opened in 1856.
    • Dix continued to work for social reforms, focusing her energy on military hospitals during the Civil War.
    • Dorothea Dix was a crusader for the rights of the mentally ill and worked to improve conditions in asylums.

  • Women and the War

    • Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton are among the most prominent nurses of the Civil War.
    • Dix served as the Union's Superintendent of Female Nurses throughout the war, overseeing more than 3,000 nurses.
    • Though she met some resistance from individuals who did not want female nurses in their hospitals, Dix set many hiring guidelines and took over operational responsibilities that made her a prominent figure within the medical community.

  • Culture in the Thirties

    • The works of such photographers as Dorothea Lange or Walker Evans remain among the most iconic images of the Great Depression.
    • Dorothea Lange, "Migrant Mother," Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information, 1936
    • Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother - an iconic image of the Great Depression - depicts Florence Owens Thompson, age 32, a mother of seven children and a migrant worker, in Nipomo, California.

  • The Human Toll

    • This 1937 photo by Dorothea Lange titled, Broke, baby sick, and car trouble!
    • In this famous Dorothea Lange photograph, a destitute mother and two of seven her children take a break from picking peas in California.

  • The Last of the New Deal Reforms

    • Author: Dorothea Lange; 1939; the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs

  • Internment of Japanese Americans

    • Japanese-Americans awaiting "relocation," Dorothea Lange - U.S.

  • The Great Depression

    • Dorothea Lange's 1937 photo of a Dust Bowl family from Missouri stuck on the side of the road near Tracy, California.