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Birth
Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 in Hampden, Maine. She was the first child of three born to Joseph Dix and Mary Bigelow Dix. Her father was an itinerant Methodist preacher. Hampden was taken over by the British in the War of 1812. However, Her mother was not in good mental health and her father was an abusive alcohol. Once the family was in Worcester they had two childern Joseph and Charles. -
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Dorothea Dix Timeline
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Dix family moved
The Dix family moved to Vermont because the town of Hampden was invaded by the British in the war of 1812. The Senate, by a vote of 19-13, passes the declaration of war against Great Britain requested by President James Madison. Two weeks earlier, the House of Representatives passed a similar war measure by a vote of 79-49. -
First School Opened
Dorothea opened her first school in Worcester Massachusetts.
Dorothea told him about her plans to become a school teacher for girls. Girls at that time were not allowed to attend public schools but they could be taught by other woman privately. Edward liked her idea and agreed to let Dorothea hold her classes in his empty store. She opened her successful school when she was fifteen. -
Shutting Down First School
Dorothea shut down her school and went back to the Dix mansion. Three years later Dorothea shut down her school and moved back to the Dix’s mansion. Edward followed her there and proposed. Dorothea said yes but couldn’t decide on a date. Dorothea was eighteen and Edward was thirty-one. Dorothea still wanted to teach. She asked her grandmother if she could start a school in the Dix’s mansion. Her plan was to have a class for poor girls, and another class for the wealthy girls -
Teaching in Mansion
Dorothea taught two classes in the Dix mansion form 1822-1836. -
Volunteering at a Jail
Dorothea worked as a volunteer at the Cambridge Jail in Massachusetts. Dorothea Dix was asked to volunteer and teach at the Cambridge jail. That day, she was very surprised by what she saw at this jail. A number of the people there had committed only one "crime": they were mentally ill. Dix was dissapointed to see that the only reason they had to stay in this place was because they were mentally ill. -
Document to United States Bill Pass
Dorothea sent a document to the United States congress asking if they could set land aside for the mentally ill. Both the houses approved but the bill was vetoed by the president. Dorothea wrote another document and sent it to the United States congress asking that five million acres be set aside for the mentally ill. Both houses passed this bill but it was vetoed by President Franklin Pierce. -
Civil War Nursing
Dorothea became a volunteer to the Nursing Corps in the Civil War.Dorothea decided to go to Europe and change the way they treat the mentally ill as she did in the United States. She returned in 1854. When Dorothea was around sixty the civil war began. She volunteered to form an Amy Nursing Corps. At this time Dorothea was not healthy but she was always at work. She was soon made superintendent of Nurses for the Union Army. Dorothea raised money for medicine and supply’s. -
Vacation in England
Dorothea fell ill and went on vacation to England. Discouraged, Dix traveled to Europe in 1854 to rest. But once there, she soon learned of the great disparity between private hospitals for the wealthy and miserable public facilities for the insane poor in Europe. Again, she set out to investigate and to agitate for reform. -
Death Of Dorothea Dix
Dorothea died in the New Jersey Hospital July 17, 1887. She was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At the age of eighty years old.
