Despite being interrupted by periods of ill health, Dorothea Dix’s groundbreaking work in challenging the prevailing notions of mental illness, her invaluable contributions to nursing practices, and her indomitable spirit as an activist continue to inspire and shape the medical field to this day.
Born on April 4, 1802, in Hampden, Maine, Dix grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts with her relatives, especially her grandmother. By the time, she was 14 she had already started teaching young girls in a school in Worcester. In fact, she started a curriculum of her own which stressed natural sciences and the importance of ethical living.
Though her teaching also halted for a brief moment of her illness, she made sure she taught a Sunday class for women in the East Cambridge jail. There, she learned about the inhumane conditions the inmates lived in. Soon, Dix started visiting hospitals and jails all across Massachusetts and publicised the conditions she encountered. Later, she also worked for the patients with mental illness and created the first generation of American mental asylums.
In the Civil War, she was made the Superintendent of Army Nurse for the Union Army. Her army of nurses helped in the advancement of the role of nurses in the medical field. From imparting them with training to giving them opportunities in the field, Dix appointed more than 3,000 nurses from 1860 to 1865. Unfortunately, Dix passed away in a hospital that she had founded.