Editing Dorothea Dix (section)

==Early life==
Born in the town of [[Hampden, Maine|Hampden]] in the [[District of Maine]], she grew up in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], among her parents' relatives. She was the first child of three born to Joseph Dix and Mary Bigelow, who had deep ancestral roots in [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]].<ref>{{cite periodical |url=http://www.edmund-rice.org/newsletters/vol_73_4_1999_fall.pdf |title=Notable Kin of Edmund Rice |author=Gary Boyd Roberts |page=5 |magazine=ERA Newsletter |date=Fall 1999 |publisher=Edmund Rice (1638) Association | access-date = 2013-06-23}}</ref> Her mother suffered from poor health, thus she wasn't able to provide consistent support to her children.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |title=Dorothea Dix|last=Stevenson|first=Keira|date=August 2017|via=EBSCOhost}}<!-- May be referring to: Stevenson, Keira. Dorothea Dix. Ipswich, MA: Great Neck Publishing, 2005. --></ref> Her father was an itinerant bookseller and [[Methodist Episcopal Church|Methodist]] preacher.<ref name="Tiffany 1890">{{citation |year=1890 |author=Tiffany, Francis |title=The Life of Dorothea Lynde Dix |place=Boston & New York |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin & Co |page=1 |url=https://archive.org/stream/lifedorothealyn00tiffgoog#page/n12/mode/2up |access-date= 2010-11-12}}. This sequence of events is described over several chapters, commencing p. 180 (n206 in electronic page field).</ref>{{efn|1=Internet Archive currently lists [https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28Life%20of%20Dorothea%20Lynde%20Dix%29 seven copies] of Francis Tiffany's book, of varying replication quality. The book was reprinted a number of times, and publishers may vary. However, the text is identical. Unfortunately, two of the easier to read versions uploaded to Internet Archive, namely [https://archive.org/stream/lifeofdorothealy00tiffuoft#page/n5/mode/2up this] and [https://archive.org/stream/lifeofdorothelyn00tiffrich#page/n3/mode/2up this] (the two bottom listings), are missing the title page, so were not utilised for the citation in this article. The information provided in the Internet Archive listings should never be used for citation, as they can contain inaccuracies (as can Google book listings). The uploaded, visible text itself should always be relied upon. }} At the age of twelve, she and her two brothers were sent to their wealthy grandmother,<ref name=":0" /> Dorothea Lynde (married to Dr. Elijah Dix){{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] to get away from her [[alcoholic]] parents and abusive father. She began to teach in a school all for girls in Worcester, Massachusetts at fourteen years old and had developed her own curriculum for her class, in which she emphasized ethical living and the natural sciences.<ref name=":0" /> In about 1821 Dix opened a school in Boston, which was patronized by well-to-do families. Soon afterward she also began teaching poor and neglected children out of the barn of her grandmother's house, but she suffered poor health.<ref>{{cite book|last=Holland |first=Mary G. |title=Our Army Nurses: Stories from Women in the Civil War |location=Roseville |publisher=Edinborough Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-889020-04-4 |page=76}}</ref> It has been suggested that Dorothea suffered from major depressive episodes, which contributed to her poor health.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gollaher |first=D. |title=Voice for the Mad |url=https://archive.org/details/voiceformadl00goll |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=The Free Press |date=1995 |page=[https://archive.org/details/voiceformadl00goll/page/93 93]|isbn=9780029123997 }}</ref> From 1824 to 1830, she wrote mainly [[devotional book]]s and stories for children. Her ''Conversations on Common Things'' (1824) reached its sixtieth edition by 1869,<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Dix, Dorothea Lynde|volume=8|page=346}}</ref> and was reprinted 60 times and written in the style of a conversation between mother and daughter.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Parry|first=Manson|title=Dorothea Dix|journal=American Journal of Public Health|year=2006|volume=96|issue=4|pages=624–625|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2005.079152|pmc=1470530}}</ref> Her book ''The Garland of Flora'' (1829) was, along with [[Elizabeth Wirt]]'s ''Flora's Dictionary'', one of the first two [[language of flowers|dictionaries of flowers]] published in the United States. Other books of Dix's include ''Private Hours, Alice and Ruth,'' and ''Prisons and Prison Discipline.''<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last=Holland |first=Mary G. |title=Our Army Nurses: Stories from Women in the Civil War |location=Roseville |publisher=Edinborough Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-889020-04-4 |page=77}}</ref>

Although raised Catholic and later directed to [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregationalism]], Dix became a [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.teachushistory.org/second-great-awakening-age-reform/approaches/dorothea-dix-unitarian-reform |title=Dorothea Dix: Unitarian Reform |access-date=2021-10-31}}</ref>
After Dix's health forced her to relinquish her school, she began working as a [[governess]] on [[Beacon Hill, Boston|Beacon Hill]] for the family of [[William Ellery Channing]], a leading Unitarian intellectual. It was while working with his family that Dix traveled to [[Saint Croix|St. Croix]], where she first witnessed slavery at first hand, though her experience did not dispose her sympathies toward abolitionism.<ref name="auto"/> In 1831, she established a model school for girls in Boston, operating it until 1836, when she suffered a breakdown.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Dix was encouraged to take a trip to Europe to improve her health. While she was there she met British social reformers who inspired her. These reformers included [[Elizabeth Fry]], [[Samuel Tuke (reformer)|Samuel Tuke]] and [[William Rathbone V|William Rathbone]] with whom she lived during the duration of her trip in Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Parry|first=Manon S.|date= 2016-11-29|title=Dorothea Dix (1802–1887)|journal=American Journal of Public Health|volume=96|issue=4|pages=624–625|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2005.079152|issn=0090-0036|pmc=1470530}}</ref> In hopes of a cure, in 1836 she traveled to England, where she met the [[Rathbone family]]. During her trip in Europe and her stay with the Rathbone family, Dorothea's grandmother died and left her a "sizable estate, along with her royalties" which allowed her to live comfortably for the remainder of her life.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Norbury|first=Frank|year=1999|title=Dorothea Dix and the Founding of Illinois' First Mental Hospital|journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society|volume=92|pages=13–29}}</ref> It was also during this trip that she came across an institution in Turkey, which she used as a model institution despite its conditions being just like other facilities.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Brickell|first=Herschel|url=https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html|title=Dorothea's Dix's Achievements as Friend of Society's Outcasts Described in a Good Biography|date= 1937-05-11|work=New York Post}}</ref> The Rathbones were [[Quaker]]s and prominent social reformers. They invited her as a guest to Greenbank, their ancestral mansion in [[Liverpool]]. At Greenbank, Dix met their circle of men and women who believed that government should play a direct, active role in social welfare. She was also introduced to Great Britain's reform movement for care of the mentally ill, known as lunacy reform. Its members were making deep investigations of madhouses and asylums, publishing their studies in reports to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]].<ref>David L. Gollaher, "Dorothea Dix and the English origins of the American asylum movement." ''Canadian Review of American Studies'' 23.3 (1993): 149-176.  </ref>