Born in Hampden, Maine on April 4, 1802, Dorothea Lynde Dix was the eldest out of three children of Joseph Dix and Mary Bigelow. Her mother suffered from a crippling depression and her father suffered from alcoholism, as well as depression, leaving Dix to run her household and care for her family from a young age.
At age 12, she moved to Boston to her wealthy grandmother, whom encouraged her interest in education. She began teaching at age 14, and eventually she established the Dix Mansion, a school for girls, and a charity school where poor girls could attend for free. She also wrote textbooks, the most famous being Conversations on Common Things: Or Guide to Knowledge, which was published in 1824. In 1827, she fell ill with tuberculosis, and spent half a year in Channing's country retreat in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. After this, she began to write more books, and published Ten Short Stories for Children(1827), Meditations for Private Hours (1828), The Garland of Flora (1829), and The Pearl or Affection's Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present(1829). In 1831, she went back to teaching, along with taking care of her sickened grandmother.
However, by 1836, she had persistent health problems, collapsing and losing use of one of her lungs, which caused her to shut down her school. As a result, and on doctor's orders, she went to live in Liverpool, England for 18 months to regain her strength. There, she learned of the practices of Philippe Pinel and William Tuke, two men who had helped in the cause of prison and asylum reform, and had inspired Dix to do the same in the United States upon her return. In 1841, nearly 40 years old, she began teaching Sunday school at East Cambridge Jail, a women's prison. She found appalling and inhumane treatment of the prisoners, especially of the ones who were mentally ill. When she told a jailer to provide heat for the shivering women, the jailer replied that the "lunatics don't feel the cold." At once, she went and complained to the court about the poor conditions. With the help of Samuel Howe, who pioneered education for children with vision and hearing impairments, and Charles Sumner, who later served in the US Senate, the jailer agreed to improve the living conditions for the inmates. This was just the beginning of the prison and asylum reform, led by Dorothea Dix.
After getting shot down by the president for her efforts to grant over twelve million acres of land for institutions for the mentally ill at Congress, she traveled back to Europe to continue fighting for her cause. When she returned to the US in 1856, controversy over slavery was nearly tearing the country apart, but she didn't voice any opinions on this matter, as she could offend potential supporters of her crusade for the mentally ill. As a result, she mostly received a warm welcome in both northern and southern states.
Aside from her work in reforming asylums and hospitals for prisoners and the mentally ill, she also worked as a nurse. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, she temporarily halted her crusade for the mentally ill and volunteered her services. She was appointed superintendent of nurses, and was the first woman to serve in such a high, federally appointed role. She was responsible for setting up field hospitals and first-aid stations, managing supplies, and recruiting nurses. However, her efforts to organize the care of the wounded soldiers only churned hostility, as both men and women found her lacking the social skills that were needed to navigate the military's bureaucracy.
Her authority of the women nurses overlapped with that of the army doctors and the US Sanitary Commission, and resulted in a battle of wills. She urged the doctors to refrain from liquor, and tried to persuade the army to discharge any doctors she saw drinking on duty. Nearly 60 years old, Dix had become used to getting what she wanted when confronting authority, and was uncompromising when dealing with the doctors. Furthermore, they weren't exactly pleased to be taking orders from a woman.
Hostility grew on the side of the nurses, as well. Dorothea insisted on what was considered unreasonable standards for recruiting nurses; they needed to be between 30 and 50 years old, to dress modestly, and to leave if they were looking for adventure amidst a war. To curb her commands, Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton sharply limited Dix's authority over the army nurses in October of 1863. Dorothea Dix almost considered resigning, but she stayed to work until after the war ended in 1865.
After her post-war return, she continued to visit hospitals, poorhouses, and prisons, but her health was waning. She took up residence at the hospital she founded 35 years prior, in Trenton, New Jersey, and died there on July 17, 1887 at the age of 85. Currently, she is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts.