USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Dorothea Dix played an instrumental role in the founding or expansion of more than 30 hospitals for the treatment of the mentally ill. She was a leading figure in those national and international movements that challenged the idea that people with mental disturbances could not be cured or helped.

Detailed explanation-2: -Dorothea Dix was an early 19th century activist who drastically changed the medical field during her lifetime. She championed causes for both the mentally ill and indigenous populations. By doing this work, she openly challenged 19th century notions of reform and illness.

Detailed explanation-3: -In 1819, she returned to Boston and founded the Dix Mansion, a school for girls, along with a charity school that poor girls could attend for free. She began writing textbooks, with her most famous, Conversations on Common Things, published in 1824.

Detailed explanation-4: -During the Civil War, Dix was appointed “Superintendent of Army Nurses” for the Union army. Setting strict standards for the recruiting, training and assigning of female nurses to army hospitals, Dix enforced a policy of even-handed treatment of wounded soldiers from both armies.