Dorothea Lynde Dix was an American advocate on behalf of the poor mentally ill. By her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, she helped create the first generation of American mental asylums. During the Civil War, she served as a Superintendent of Army Nurses.
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What was Dorothea Dix's role during the Civil War?
During the Civil War, Dorothea Dix served as Superintendent of Army Nurses, a role that drew on the same reforming energy she had already spent decades directing toward the treatment of the poor mentally ill. She is remembered chiefly for that earlier campaign: a vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress that helped create the first generation of American mental asylums.
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Dix campaigned from the 1840s onward for the humane treatment of people with mental illness, driving the creation or expansion of dozens of state psychiatric hospitals across the United States and Europe.
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Source Wikidata: Dorothea Dix
Sources
1. Wikidata: Dorothea Dix
- Wikidata Q452469, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata P569 (w-bbfill-medicine3-0926)
View the Source2. Dorothea Dix (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section (entity-description)
Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802 - July 17, 1887) was an American advocate on behalf of the poor mentally ill. By her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, she helped create the first generation of American mental asylums.
Infobox: birth_date
April 4, 1802
Infobox: death_date
July 17, 1887
In Group: Founders of Modern Nursing and Battlefield Care, Lead section
Superintendent of Army Nurses
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