Breaking the Chains: The Crusade of Dorothea Lynde Dix - Softcover

Colman, Penelope

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0595437141 ISBN 13: 9780595437146

Publisher: iUniverse, 2007

Synopsis

Dorothea Dix was almost forty years old when she discovered that people, especially poor people, with mental illness were "confined in cages, closets, cellars, stalls, pens chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience." Outraged by this knowledge, Dix led a forty-year crusade for the humane treatment of people with mental illness. Year after year, she traveled thousands of miles by stagecoach, boats, horseback, and railroad to investigate and expose the horrendous conditions. She lobbied legislators, governors, and presidents to provide treatment and facilities for people with mental illness. She took her crusade to Scotland, Italy, and Russia. During the Civil War, she served as the Superintendent of the Female Nurses of the Army, as such she had more authority and power than any other woman had had in the military prior to and during the Civil War. After the war, she resumed her crusade. When Dorothea Dix died in 1887, people around the world honored her. Proclamations, testimonials, and tributes were spoken and printed from the United States to Japan to England. A prominent American doctor wrote, "Thus had died and been laid to rest the most useful and distinguished woman America has yet produced."

About this title

About the Author

Penny Colman is an award-winning author of books, essays, and articles. Her books include Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II and Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories About Women Who Made a Difference. Her book, Corpses, Coffins and Crypts: A History of Burial was named a ?Best of the Best Books for the 21st Century? by the American Library Association. She has appeared on television and radio. Colman is a Distinguished Lecturer, Queens College, The City University of New York. www.pennycolman.com

From School Library Journal

Grade 9-12-- This biography is an important addition to existing literature on Dix, a champion of social reform for the : treatment of the mentally ill. It is particularly suited to the high school level as many extant works are either dated stylistically or are too young. Colman does an excellent job of citing primary sources, with many of the passages from her subject's own writings. In addition, pertinent economic, political, and social material is included, allowing readers to appreciate better the obstacles Dix overcame in her crusade. With its black-and-white photographs and reproductions and a list of further reading, this is a preferable purchase to Schlaifer and Freeman's recent Heart's Work: Civil War Heroine and Champion of the Mentally Ill, Dorothea Lynde Dix (Paragon House, 1991), which is neither well written nor well researched. By contrast, Colman's is a must purchase in the field of women's studies. --Kathleen L. Atwood, Pomfret School, CT
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: iUniverse
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0595437141
• ISBN 13: 9780595437146
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 146