“Man is not made better by being degraded…”
-Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802 – July 17, 1887) was an American activist who overcame an abusive childhood and chronically poor health to become a crusader for poor and imprisoned people struggling with disabilities and mental illness.
At the age of 19, Dix opened a school that catered to the wealthy families of Boston, but also began educating poor children out of her home. Due to health issues, however, she was forced to leave the school after three years. For the better part of two decades she wrote devotional and children’s books, and travelled to England where she was mentored by a Quaker community that deeply influenced her thinking about social reform.
Back in the United States in 1841, Dix returned to writing and teaching, and also began going to the jail in East Cambridge Massachusetts to lead a Sunday school class. It was there, one Sunday, that she witnessed a group of shivering, mentally ill people being herded into cells like animals. When she expressed concern, she was told not to worry about those patients since they could not feel the cold.
And an activist was born!
Dorothea Dix, outraged at this inhumane treatment, began her own statewide investigation. She discovered that most towns and cities would contract out the care of indigent mentally ill people not imprisoned to the private sector, where there were no regulations and generally poor funding. These conditions led to widespread abuse.
To build her case for national reform, Dix began travelling throughout the United States, studying and documenting the treatment of these terribly vulnerable members of society. And because of her findings and her passionate lobbying of state legislatures and the United States Congress, new laws were written to protect the indigent mentally ill. Additionally, special hospitals were built in fifteen states and Canada.
Except for the Civil War, where she served as the Superintendent of Army Nurses for the Union Army and distinguished herself by her compassionate attention to Union and Confederate soldiers alike, Dix continued to champion the cause of proper care for poor people struggling with disabilities and mental illness until she was eighty.
Those dismissed by too many as “throw-aways” were seen by this exceptional woman as precious, and worthy of respect and care.
“If you’ve done it to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you’ve done it to me...”
Dorothea Dix did more than hear the words of Jesus, she lived them. And humanity is nobler because of it.
She is a hero you should know.
To learn more about this hero, you might consider:
The Life of Dorothea Lynde Dix, by Francis Tiffany
Angel of Mercy; The Story of Dorothea Lynde Dix, by Rachel Baker
Breaking the Chains: The Crusade of Dorothea Lynde Dix, by Penny Colman
1,000 years, 1,000 People, by Agnes and Henry Gottlieb and Barbara and Brent Bowers
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About Me
- Ross Porter
- Dr. Ross Porter received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Master of Divinity (Theology) and Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology) degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary, where he first became interested in the integration of psychology and spirituality. He is a teacher, author, counselor, and consultant, specializing in integrative psychology, virtue ethics and family systems. He has taught at the high school, college, and graduate school levels. Ross is also the Founder and Executive Director of Stillpoint Family Resources, a non-profit organization that offers counseling services to individuals, couples, and families in crisis, with nine different office locations throughout Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange Counties (specific office locations can be found at www.stillpointfamilyresources.org). In 2009, Dr. Porter was named an “Outstanding Angeleno” by the Los Angeles Daily News. Ross and his wife Jennifer have been married for 21 years, and have four beautiful children. John Michael, their son who has Down Syndrome is their first born.
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