Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources Article "Dorothea Dix: Report on the Insane (1843)." American Government, ABC-CLIO, 2019, americangovernment.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/210306. Accessed 13 Sept. 2019. After surveying the conditions of every jail and poorhouse in Massachusetts, Dorothea Dix delivered a formal address to the Massachusetts legislature, relaying her findings. In this way, she advocated for the reform of the treatment of the mentally ill. This document reports what she had divulged to the government: the egregious circumstances, the acts of abuse, and an experience of a memorable victim. This speech provoked a great impact on the prison and mental health reform: It led to the approval of the refinement Worcester State Lunatic Hospital. This event started to educate the US government the conditions and the happenings in poorly financed institutions housing the mentally ill. Such an address to the government proves Dix was a prominent figure in the progression of mental establishments and treatment. This article was applied on the “Dix” page. Dorothea Lynde Dix collection, Maine Women Writers Collection, University of New England, Portland, Maine We found this particular resource on DigitalUNE of the University of New England; “Dorothea ​ Lynde Dix : A Paper Read Before the Worcester Society of Antiquity” by Alfred Seelye Roe. ​ This pamphlet introduces Dix’s experience in Worcester prior to her career of reformative work for mental illness, including a letter written by Dr. John W. Ward, the superintendent of the Asylum for the Insane at Trenton, New Jersey, concerning the end of Dix’s life as she passed away in the Asylum for the Insane at Trenton. It covers Dix’s family relationships, her profession as a teacher, and her role as a Superintendent of Nurses in the employ of the United States government. Biographer Roe attempted to gather as much information as possible on Dix through individuals she associated herself with such as acquaintances and family members. It was read to the Worcester Society of Antiquity on November 20, 1888. Ultimately, this was a unique outlook on Dix’s life and gave us a true sense of what the person behind various advancements in mental health was like. Dorothea Lynde Dix, Memorial Soliciting a State Hospital for the Protection and Cure of the Insane, Submitted to the General Assembly of North Carolina, November, 1848, pp. 8–9, 14–15, 16–17, 26–28, 39–41. ANCHOR (A North Carolina History Resource) is an online textbook in which we derived this article from. It prefaced with information on America in the 18th century, a time in which a prevalent belief was that social rank was a reflection of God, and the 19th century, the era of the birth of psychiatric care in which the mentally ill were confined in hospitals as opposed to receiving treatment. In the 19th century, it was socially unacceptable for a woman to publicly debate topics such as business and government. The responsibility of caring for the mentally ill were placed on women as well, as women were viewed as “natural” nurturers. At this point in history, the mentally ill were thought to have deliberately abandoned themselves to sin or to have been possessed by demons. Dix’s campaign marked a great change in the way Americans viewed the mentally ill. Her “memorial” to the North Carolina General Assembly, Dorothea Dix lays out her arguments for building a state hospital for the mentally ill. This resource provided us insight on how Dix broke barriers for both women and the mentally ill. Memorial Soliciting a State Hospital for the Protection and Cure of the Insane, Submitted to the General Assembly of North Carolina. November, 1848. [House of Commons Document, No. 2.] After Massachusetts, Dorothea Dix continued to survey the conditions of prisons and poor-houses to advocate for the improvement of mental health. In 1848, she submitted a proposal for North Carolina to construct mental institutions for their state. North Carolina was concerned of the expensive costs of mental asylums. She addressed the legislators of North Carolina, providing charts and figures of the cost effectiveness of the construction of a mental asylum. She assured that she was not requesting for personal gain, but to “appear as an advocate of those who cannot plead their own cause”. Dix also emphasized that it was the responsibility of those in power to assist the “unfortunate”. Her last sentence of her 48-page memorial was, “Gentlemen, the sum of the plea of your Memoralist is embodied in the solicitation for an adequate appropriation for the construction of a Hospital for the remedial treatment of the Insane in the State of North Carolina.” This resource was significant to our project because it truly exhibited how Dix was knowledgeable in mental health, passionate to represent the mentally ill when they are unable to represent themselves on a federal level, and demonstrates how her religion influenced her ideology. Schoeneman, Thomas J. “The Role of Mental Illness in the European Witch Hunts of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: An Assessment.” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, vol. 13 Schoeneman, with a PhD in the Department of Psychology at the Lewis and Clark College, divulges information on sin and mental illness in the Middle Ages. From medieval sources, Shoeneman recognizes indications of truth within medieval authors’ beliefs concerning the origins of mental illness such as alcoholism, grief, and overwork as well as how, under many circumstances, religious beliefs such as sin and wrongdoing were also considered to be the cause. Such information was utilized in the timeline of our website, located on the “Breaking Barriers” page. Franklin Pierce, “Veto Message, May 3, 1854,” in James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897 (Washington: Published by the Authority of Congress, 1898), V: 247-256. Through her testimonials to the Massachusetts Legislature, Dorothea Dix aimed to provide and allocate ten million acres of land for refined mental health institutions. It seemed that she would be successful in her endeavor as the Bill for the Benefit of the Indigent Insane was approved by Congress. However, President Franklin Pierce, an outspoken critic of federal involvement in state and local issues, vetoed the bill. His main reasoning, in summary, is that States will view Congress as a charity and become reliant on federal support. With this veto, Pierce set forth guidelines for the federal role as a philanthropic agent until well into the twentieth century. This was an immense loss for Dix but it was also a major turning point in her career. The veto pushed her to achieve reformative actions in other countries and states. There is a quote from President Pierce is on the “Triumphs” page. Book Bly, Nellie. Ten Days in a Mad-House: or, Nellie Bly's Experience on Blackwell's ​ Island: Feigning Insanity in Order to Reveal Asylum Horrors. N.L. Munro, 1887. ​ In order to investigate New York’s mental institution, Blackwell’s Island Asylum, Bly checked herself into a boarding house for women and feigned insanity. She was the first to go undercover in the facility. There, she discovered that the doctors were incompotens, the patient were being abused, it housed sane, misunderstood foreign women, and the overall living conditions were horrible. When she was let out, she wrote articles of her experience that would later be turned into a book, advocating for further funding of the asylum. This was an excellent, true to life source of information for the circumstances of asylums of that era. We were able to gain a deeper understanding of what Dix similarly surveyed in Massachusetts’ asylums. Image 1800s Hospital. 1800. ​ This hospital shows both staff and patients in a large room for care and treatment. There are patients of all ages in beds. This photograph is on the “Stigma” page. A Postcard Depicting the Mississippi State Insane Asylum circa 1915. 1915. ​ Dorothea Dix supported the foundation of the Mississippi State Insane Asylum. The asylum housed about 35,000 patients from 1855 to 1935 and remains open today. This image is on the “Triumphs” page because this facility was one of the many Dix helped open throughout her career. An Engraving from the 1860s Showing a Wing of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in England. ​ The engraving depicts the Bethlem Royal Hospital in England, which is now the Bethlem Museum of the Mind. There are many women pictured in the hallway, sitting on chairs and benches. The engraving is on the “Stigma” page. Anonymous. St. Catherine of Siena Besieged by Demons. 1500. ​​​​​​​ ​ During the Middle Ages, anorexia mirabilis, also known as holy anorexia, was prominent for Catholic nuns and religious women. St. Catherine of Siena suffered from this. Church eventually saw anorexia mirabilis as heretical and dangerous. This painting is on the “Stigma” page. A private duty nurse attending to a patient, Neshanic, NJ, 1950s. Pictures of Nursing: The Zwerdling Postcard Collection. National Library of Medicine By the 1950’s, many psychiatric asylums have been shut down. A new era of nursing homes and medication for the mentally ill arise, along with a new system of mental care. This image was used in our timeline, as it compared conditions of asylums during Dorothea Dix to a century after her. Bly, Nellie. Popular Mode of Curing Insanity! Lizzie Bommer Punishing Miss Hodson per ​ Suspicion of Taking Her Key. Nellie Bly’s Ten Days in a Madhouse includes many illustrations of what Bly had witnessed ​ ​ during her investigative experience in the Blackwell Insane Asylum. In mental asylums, classic 1800s methods of curing patients included beating over the head, kicking, pulling hair, and drenching in water.