Dorothea Dix

Essential Facts

Began her crusade after visiting a prison with a Sunday school class and seeing the mentally ill mixed with the criminals
Fought to have the mentally disabled removed from prisons
Created the first group of mental hospitals in the United States
Lobbied state legislatures and the U.S. Congress to support the cause for reform for the mentally disabled
Appointed Superintendent of Army Nurses by the Union Army during the Civil War