Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887)
Courtesy, Special Collections/ University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

In 1845, Dix sent a memorial to the New Jersey legislature stating her case for reforms in the care of the mentally ill. Her research and advocacy resulted in the building of the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum at Trenton in 1848. The first such care facility in the state, it was a model for the humane care of the mentally ill.