In 1983, the US Postal Service issued a Dorothea Dix stamp to celebrate and recognize her efforts on behalf of the mentally ill. However over a century prior, her first of her many memorials, the "Dix Memorial," had created a storm of protests from public officials and ordinary citizens. They demanded to know who she was, and why she was indulging in matters where no respectable woman should indulge in.
Even so, she changed the thinking of these individuals. Where people used to think that mental illness stemmed from sin or evil spirits, they began to see "lunacy" as a medical issue, rather than a moral one. Her efforts helped to pave the way for a better treatment of the patients, the conclusion of finding mental illness an equivalent to crime, and a beginning for research on mental illness.
In states all east of the Mississippi, Dix had helped to establish thirty two new mental health facilities, but in total, her international influence created over 120. She also persuaded the visiting Japanese representative in Washington to help establish facilities for the mentally ill in Japan, and was pleased to hear that an asylum had been built in Kyoto in late 1875. Not only did she found mental institutions, but also fifteen schools for the feeble minded, a school for the blind, and various training facilities for nurses. Dix also was needed for establishing libraries in prisons, mental hospitals, and other institutions.
Hospitals, such as the Dorothea Dix Hospital in North Carolina, have been built in her honor. Moreover, she is recognized as the first woman to have held power at that time, as the societal norm at the time was that women were supposed to be obedient and quiet. However, Dix fought passionately for what she believed in, even gave herself publicity, and achieved so much for the people living at the time, as well as the future generations to come.
Her compassion in her work was what opened the eyes of many people to the unfortunate predicament that the mentally ill had been in for decades. Her dedicated effort that spanned over forty years earned her a special place in history, as well as the respect of people all across the world.