Dorothea Dix

Biography

Dorothea Dix championed the rights of the mentally ill, traveling widely to document the cruel conditions they endured and persuading legislatures to build humane institutions; her ardent advocacy transformed care across the northeastern states and beyond.

During the Civil War she organized nurses for the Union Army and later continued to campaign on behalf of the most vulnerable, and her burial at Mount Auburn Cemetery memorializes a tireless reformer whose compassion left a lasting impact.