Dorothea Dix
As a social activist, Dorothea Dix led prison and asylum reforms. After seeing how the mentally ill were inhumanely treated in her home state of Massachusetts, she contributed most of the rest of her life to helping the insane. Through hard work and petitioning, she helped rehabilitate the mentally ill and created better environments in jails and asylums. Dix is well known for creating hospitals for the mentally ill. During the Civil War, Dix was appointed Superintendent of Union Army Nurses. |  |
