|
Hello, my name is Dorothea Dix. I was born in Hampden, Maine on April
4th 1802. I was born on the Maine frontier when it was a part of Massachusetts.
When I was a kid my parents moved to Massachusetts. I had a rich Boston
grandfather. When I was 7 my grandfather was murdered. When I was ten,
I ran away from home to the Boston mansion of my stern grandmother.
I began teaching when I was fifteen.
For my education I established a reputation as a capable teacher. When I was nineteen, I opened a more formal school for children in Boston. I am famous because I am a social and political activist who worked on behalf of the mentally ill. I started major prison reform beginning in the 1840’s. I traveled over 60,000 miles inspecting asylums and poor houses in 26 states. I presented the first “Memorial to Congress”. By 1852, I had founded 11 state hospitals. I was appointed the first superintendent of the United States army nurses. I traveled to Europe from France to Turkey, and founded more hospitals in Rome, Scotland and Isle of Jersey. These are some things that were happening during my life a while back. In 1820, Maine became the twenty–third state. In 1866, on July 4th a fire destroyed half of Portland causing a lot of damage. At the age of 80 I retired to an apartment set aside for me at the New Jersey State Hospital. I remained there until my death on July 17, 1887. By
|