Dorothea Dix Essay Sample
📌Category: | Government, Historical Figures, History, Politics |
📌Words: | 1453 |
📌Pages: | 6 |
📌Published: | 19 June 2022 |
Who is a prominent woman that has made an important impact in U.S. history? Dorothea Dix is a hero because with perseverance, dedication, and courage she was able to shape the way for many important and groundbreaking changes to society. The above argument can be proven by her time teaching young girls, her advocacy for better rights for the mentally ill, and her military service as a nurse in the Civil War.
As a teacher to young women during the 1800’s, Dorothea Dix had to travail to blaze the way for the future generations to be brighter and more educated. For instance, "When she was 12 years old, she left home to live and study in Boston, Massachusetts, with her grandmother. By age 14 Dix was teaching in a school for young girls in Worcester, Massachusetts. There she set up her own curriculum, which stressed the natural sciences and the responsibilities of ethical living.” (“Dorothea Dix.” Britannica). This demonstrates that even when she was still young she began working in a career where she could help make a difference in others lives. This also demonstrates that she truly cared about her students and created a curriculum specifically to help them excel later in life. Such as “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.” (Biography). This validates that she knew even though not everyone could afford an education, everyone needed and deserved one, so she sacrificed her money and time to let poor girls attend her school for free. This also validates that she was a benevolent young woman who was not only intelligent, but also compassionate. To illustrate “In 1836 Dorothea began taking care of her sick grandmother and continued teaching at her school. However she became more and more drained and eventually had a complete health breakdown and severe hemorrhages. At her doctor's urging she gave up her school and took a long vacation to England. While she was recuperating her grandmother and mother died within two days of each other.” (Bumb). Additionally, after years of diligently teaching, “Dix pursued her career with such intensity that she had to visit England in 1836 to recoup her health. While there, she encountered English social reformers and decided to carry on their work back in the United States.” (“Dorothea Dix.” American). This signifies that she worked so hard she actually started to sacrifice her own health for the sake of her students' education causing severe stress and damage to her personal well-being. This also signifies that she had to endure severe emotional heartache with the death of mother and grandmother whom she had cared for tirelessly for many years. After her work as a teacher paused, while she healed she never stopped continuing to look for new ways to help others. This and the inspiration from activists she met in Europe launched her into her pursuit as a mental health advocate.
Dorothea Dix was met with opposition, but that never stopped her in her biggest and perhaps most important work as a champion for the mentally ill. As proof “At the age of 31 she began a change in mental institutions of the United States. She had covered half of the United States and Europe inspecting institutions for mistreatment by the time she was fifty-four. In 15 years this woman did more than most people do in a lifetime.” (Bumb). Furthermore, while in Europe, “She discovered enormous disparity between public and private hospitals, and great differences among countries. She recommended reforms in many countries, and, most significant, met with Pope Pius IX, who personally ordered construction of a new hospital for the mentally ill after hearing her report.” (Biography). This shows that she was extremely influential in persuading governments to take real action on mental health related problems. This also shows that she sacrificed an enormous chunk of her life solely to campaigning for better treatment for the mentally disabled. In particular in her remarks to the Massachusetts Legislature Dorothea Dix said, “Here you will put away the cold, calculating spirit of selfishness and self-seeking; lay off the armor of local strife and political opposition; here and now, for once, forgetful of the earthly and perishable, come up to these halls and consecrate them with one heart and one mind to works of righteousness and just guardians of the solemn rights you hold in trust Raise up the fallen; succor the desolate; restore the outcast; defend the helpless; and for your eternal and great reward, receive the benediction" (Dix) Another example is how “Dix pushed states to care for the unfortunate. Although many politicians disagreed with her work, she moved forward. She eventually established asylums in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Illinois.” (Norwood) This validates that she was a powerful speaker and writer helping her persuade the men of the Massachusetts Legislature to support her cause. This also validates that although it may have made her disliked or unpopular she still worked hard to get government funding for those mentally disabled people stuck in the foul conditions of prison because they were different. To give an example “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. Dix may have had personal experience of mental instability that drove her to focus on the issue of asylum reform, and certainly her singular focus on the issue led to some important victories. Perhaps her own struggles helped make her a more compassionate advocate for people who had been diagnosed as mentally unstable or insane.” (Parry) This reveals that she personally struggled with her own mental health, helping her to better empathize with those who were clinically diagnosed with mental instability. This also reveals that she had to suffer through the trial of depression, and still made her service to others a priority. She never stopped focusing on the mentally ill, but she eventually shifted her career in a different direction after the arrival of the Civil War.
In the year 1861 the Civil War broke out, this inspired Dorothea Dix to join the union army, she played an influential role in the organization of the military hospitals and nurse corps.
For example, “Dix volunteered her services one week after the Civil War began. Shortly after her arrival in Washington in April 1861, she was appointed to organize and outfit the Union Army hospitals and to oversee the vast nursing staff that the war would require. As superintendent of women nurses, she was the first woman to serve in such a high capacity in a federally appointed role.” (History) This supports the idea that she was quick to come to action and help after seeing that there were others in need of her aid. This also supports the idea that she was a notably accomplished woman to have been selected for such an important role so quickly. To demonstrate the point, after being offered a carriage to help her with her travels from the Secretary of War and refusing it she wrote to him "I give cheerfully my whole time, mind, strength and income, to the service of my country," and would not "receive any remuneration for what I cheerfully render as a loyal woman." (Desrochers) This suggests that she was not greedy or selfish, because she gave of her help freely without accepting recompense when offered. This also suggests that wanted to give everything she had to help the noble cause of the union army, and she was completely loyal to her country. To portray the point “During a period when male doctors openly expressed disdain for female nurses, Dix continued to push for formal training and more opportunities for women nurses. Over the course of the war she appointed more than 3,000, or about 15%, of Union Army nurses.” (Norwood) Moreover, “Dix drew on her institutional and organizational expertise to mobilize thousands of nurses to treat sick and wounded soldiers. Through Dix' efforts, the Nurse Corps was one of the resounding success stories of the Civil War, and paralleled the efforts of Englishwoman Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War a decade earlier. As an indication of her personal commitment, Dix labored the entire Civil War without pay.” (“Dorothea Dix.” American.) This validates that she believed that women were equal to men and should be given the same opportunities to serve their country as men were. This also validates that she was also extremely effective in fixing the way army hospitals ran, and her success was greatly aided by her heavy recruitment of women to the Nurse Corps. Dorothea Dix’ work serving the union army during the Civil War was just a small part of her service to her country, she made a great impact on the way our society operates that can still be seen today through better treatment of the mentally ill, and more equality for women.
Dorothea Dix is a prominent woman who made an impact on U.S. History through her dedication and perseverance. She shaped the way for groundbreaking changes in women’s rights and mental health awareness, these advancements have helped make the world a better place. Dorothea Dix courageously stood for change and sacrificed a comfortable life for herself to develop a better society for others.