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Who was Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802–1887) was an American teacher, social reformer, and philanthropist (a person who donates money to charity). After teaching at a school for young girls, she founded her own school in Boston. Her method of instruction stressed the natural sciences and ethical living. In 1836 Dix contracted tuberculosis (a highly communicable disease of the lungs caused by bacteria) and went to England to recuperate. Upon returning to Massachusetts two years later, she learned that she had inherited enough money to support herself, but her religious beliefs would not allow her to remain idle. In 1841 she began to teach Sunday school at the East Cambridge House of Correction and was shocked by the conditions she found. Mentally disturbed and insane people were housed with criminals irrespective of their sex. They were grossly neglected, lacking heat, clothing, and sanitation. Some were even chained and...

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