Image courtesy of the Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries, New Brunswick, NJ
Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887) sent a memorial to the New Jersey legislature in 1845 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. As the first care facility in the state, it was a model for the humane care of the mentally ill.
—
References:
Books:
Hermann, Frederick M. Dorothea L. Dix and the Politics of Institutional Reform. New Jersey Portraits vol. 3. Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1981.
Colman, Penny. Breaking the chains: the crusade of Dorothea Lynde Dix. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2007. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/166343814.
Lightner, David L. Asylum, Prison, and Poorhouse: The Writings and Reform Work of Dorothea
Dix in Illinois.Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1999
Journal Articles:
Gollaher, David L. “Dorothea Dix and the English origins of the American asylum movement.” Canadian Review of American Studies 23, no. 3 (1993): 149-176.
Norbury, Frank B. “Dorothea Dix and the Founding of Illinois’ First Mental Hospital.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 92, no. 1 (1999): 13-29.