Dorothea Dix Accomplishments

“…her changes are still being felt today with the way mental patients are treated. This one woman accomplished much for humanity within her lifespan.” Dorothea Dix was a great woman activist in history who fought for a great cause. Her fight for Prison reform and the fair treatment of the mentally ill is a great achievement because of the impact it has left on modern day Legal System. She felt the need to bring this topic of Prison Reform to light because of the neglect it faced. Many people went to jail for the pettiest things such as not paying their debt, yet were treated the same as a murder. Another major cause was the mentally ill who had done crimes, but were forced to live cruel living conditions in jail. In Dix’s life she went through

Dix was born on April 4th, 1802 in Hampton, Maine. As a child she didn’t have the best childhood due to an abusive father who was also an alcoholic. Some can say that because of what her father dealt, such as being alcoholic and how it damaged his and her life is what led her to fight for change in her adult life. This and also that her parents had kids after her which left her to care for them was also a reason she lacked a childhood. Taking care of kids also developed her love for kids which later also factored in to helping others. In Dix’s adolescent years, when her parents were seen unfit to care because of the unstable life they were providing their wealthy grandmother took them in. This would also play another role into which later cause Dix to fight for change and reform. Living with their grandmother in her mansion opened opportunities she wouldn’t have been able to experience before. Her grandmother gave her a new lifestyle which allowed her to go to better and more expensive schools, yet Dix didn’t want these things. She always had a passion for giving back since a young age, but her grandmother was against that. It was said she was punished once for feeding the hungry since they had so much food and money. Dix wasn’t getting used to her new and “better” lifestyle, so she was sent away once again. She was sent to

As a teacher it sprouted her love and passion for helping others. Dix wanted to help children because of the lack of a childhood she had, she thought it would be best to improve the lives of other young ones so they can get better opportunities in life. While living in Boston she met her cousin Edward who soon she would become engaged to for a few years. In Boston she opened up a school which taught young girls, since at this time woman had no rights and they couldn’t go to school. This was one of her major careers that later caused her to branch out into fighting for prison reform