America’s history has been filled with conflicts and sufferings amongst the stories of inspiration. As Americans have suffered, there have always been other Americans who reach out a caring hand to them in their need and given them support. The pages of American history are occupied by dozens of caring people dedicated to making the lives of others better. One of these great American philanthropists was Dorothea Dix, who lived in the spirit of Matthew 25:35.
Dorothea was born in Maine to Joseph and Mary Dix in 1802. The family moved to Massachusetts but Dorothea ran away from home at age twelve to escape from the alcoholism and abuse of her father. She lived with her grandmother in Boston during her adolescence. She opened a school in Boston and became a schoolteacher. Her life took a decisive turn when she sailed to England in 1836 to improve her health. While in England she met the Rathbone family. The Rathbones were involved in social causes including reforming the British mental health system. As she worked with the Rathbones, a passion for social justice grew in Dorothea.
When she returned to the United States in 1840, Dorothea set about lobbying for mental healthcare reform in Massachusetts. She soon expanded her efforts outside of her state and advocated for reform measures in New Jersey and other states. In 1848, she worked for mental healthcare reform in North Carolina and the state mental hospital built as a result was named after her.
She was appointed as Superintendent of the Army Nurses in the Union army when the Civil War broke out in 1861. She raised a group of volunteer nurses and set to the task of battlefield and army hospital nursing. She encouraged women to become army nurses despite the social stigma against female nurses. Dorothea Dix essentially opened the field of army nursing to women and made nursing a respectable profession for women. She cared for the wounded, both Union and Confederate.
After the Civil War, Dorothea returned to her work as a social and medical reform activist. She toured the former Confederacy, advocating for the rebuilding and building of mental hospitals and other nursing facilities. She settled down as a resident in a hospital in New Jersey in 1881. Dorothea Dix died in 1887. Her legacy was immense as she led the mental healthcare reform movement. During the Civil War, she paved the way for legendary female nurses like Clara Barton. She was, in many ways, the “Florence Nightengale of the Civil War”. She worked to bless and care for others as long as she lived.
Dix served others her entire life and she was the champion of the mentally ill, the poor and the sick. She lived in the spirit of Deuteronomy 15:11 which reads, “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’“