In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States was a rapidly changing society. Many Americans were excited by the new possibilities available through the growing population and economic complexity of the time. Others, however, were not as thrilled with the challenges against the traditional values and institutions, along with social instability, inequality, and uncertainty of the future, brought about during this time. This period was called the Antebellum Era. Marking the time before the Civil War and after the War of 1812, the Antebellum Era called for self discovery and reformations that shaped American society.1
The Antebellum Era was the first of four major reform periods in American history.2 One reform in particular that has shaped human rights and rehabilitation is the Prison and Asylum Reforms of the 1830s. The creation of asylums, for criminals and for the mentally ill, was society’s reaction to the overcrowded and inhumane state that criminals of all varieties—debtors, the mentally ill, and even senile paupers—were automatically sectioned to.3 There were many individuals that took charge in leading this reform; one of these reformers was Dorothea Dix.
Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 in Hampden, District of Maine, Massachusetts. Growing up, Dix had a very difficult childhood. She rarely saw her father, who was a traveling Methodist preacher and writer of tracts, and her mother was often too ill to give attention to the children. Unhappy at home, Dix moved in with her grandmother at the age of twelve, where academic and social discipline were insisted upon. After two years, she was sent to live with her great aunt, where she found her permanent home. Dix soon after opened a school for small children that became successful. After returning to Boston, she opened a school for girls two years later. During the 1820’s Dix became ill with tuberculosis. While recovering from the illness, she became very interested in Unitarianism and the ideas of William Ellery Channing.4 In 1841, she was asked to teach Sunday School for women at the East Cambridge Jail. Upon her arrival she witnessed the innocent and guilty, young and old, sane and insane individuals crowded into an unsegregated group. There was no distinction between the mentally ill and those convicted of a crime. Dix instantly felt that something needed to be done. Dix sought after the help of other reformers, such as Samuel Gridley Howe and Charles Sumner, to guide her as she embarked on this journey. She began surveying hospitals for the insane in Massachusetts. Most of the mentally ill were living in poorhouses or jails, chained, and subjected to horrendous conditions. Dix met up with some of the most renowned doctors in order to search for a humane alternative treatment. After several months, Dix wrote a petition to the Massachusetts Legislature.5
Dorothea Dix’s petition called for psychiatric hospitals to work to cure diseased minds on a foundation of kindness and respect. The creation of asylums was to help rehabilitate and reform mentally unstable patients. Many of the mentally ill were moved out of the jails and were placed in these asylums. Dix continued to work towards improving the care of the mentally ill, which was her primary focus, as she expanded her efforts to prison reform, which she pursued soon after her work on asylum reform.6 Asylum and Prison reforms, still topics of importance today, have changed drastically from the era of Dorothea Dix’s reforms. Dix’s movement for the creation of asylums sparked the reforms of such institutions across the world, causing wholesale reevaluations of current institutions and the adoption of more appropriate facilities for the betterment and care of the mentally ill. Dix’s vision set noble goals for penitentiaries and mental institutions across the nation, which are still challenges we are trying to live up to today. Dorothea Dix’s reform were part of a larger movement of reform in the Antebellum Era, reforms that included reforming gender roles as well as the major reform movement of the era, abolitionism.
- Alan Brinkley, American History: Connecting with the Past Volume 2, 15 edition (New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015), 315. ↵
- The second wave of reform was at the end of the nineteenth century (The Progressive Era); the third wave was the period of the New Deal in the 1930s, and the fourth wave was the Civil Rights Era of the 1950s and 1960s. ↵
- Brinkley, American History: Connecting with the Past Volume 2, 326. ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “William Ellery Channing,” by James W. Oberly. ↵
- Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “Dorothea Dix,” by Fred R. Van Hartesveldt. ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, September 2013, s.v. “Prison Reform,” by Kathy Warnes. ↵
40 comments
Christian Lozano
Thank God for Dorothea Dix. It is still unfortunate how mental issues and sicknesses are viewed even to this very day. Nevertheless, it is awesome to read how people like Dorothea Dix worked to reform for Mental Institutions, something overlooked in most of our societies.
Maalik Stansbury
,I understand why people were sent to jail/prison instead of getting the help they need. It was thought of no point in wasting one’s time and resources, or at least that was my understanding. I think it was interesting of how you choose to write this article. You emphasize on certain parts that really popped out for me. I think this article was well researched and had a lot of information and description i it. Giving it a great informative view.
Rafael Ortiz Salas
I have never heard of Dorothea Dix or the Antebellum Era. Dorothea Dix’s movement to make a change to the jail for a separation of the mentally ill and the criminals, was very noble. Everybody deserves a to be treated with respect and kindness. Very good article. 🙂
Andres Palacios
The Antebellum Era had a great impact in our society it reformed our the penal system. I’ve never heard of Dorothea Dix before but what an amazing impact she had in our society, changing psychiatric hospitals views on instead of penalizing or giving bad treatment to the patients to be able to treat them with kindness and respect.
Yesenia Cardenas
It is noticeable that much effort was made into the research of this topic. I t is sad to read about the ill being sent to away just because of their condition. This is the first time i read about Dorothea Dix and I found it very informative. Excellent job!
Mehmet Samuk
I never heard about Dorothea Dix until reading this article. It was very good. We often neglect the ones in prison or mentally ill until someone close to us or even ourselves are in that situation. Interesting choice of topic and well informative writing good job!!
Rachel White
Great research into this topic and a lot of good material is incorporated into this article. I think it is weird to think of a time where mentally ill patients are sent to rot in a jail cell instead of getting the help they need. This is darkly humorous considering how criminals seem to be getting out of their sentences by pleading insanity in today’s society. This contrast of different times is not as far away as one might think. Only about two hundred years separates us from the year Dorothea Dix was born. This is a very interesting topic with prisons and asylums being apparent in our society now. Great job!
Robert
Interesting article. Never knew how the mentally ill were processed during that time period in American history…
Analina Devora
I always love reading articles with a strong female taking matters in her own hands. It’s amazing that after all her hardships (sickness, etc) that she still managed to accomplish so much and help others who needed it. It’s always important to remember that people are still people and should be treated as such. I really enjoyed this article, I didn’t know anything about this topic until now. Well done!
Edelia Corona
I really enjoyed reading this article, it was very informative. I have heard of Dorothea Dix but you clearly researched thoroughly and gave me some more insight on her. I found it interesting how nobody in the prison system came up with the idea to reform the system. It took an outsider to figure out what needed to be changed. I was intrigued on Dix’s initiative to make other people’s problems her own. Thank you for posting and I look forward to more articles by you!