Interview with Dorothea Dix

Hey everyone! Welcome to the show, and I am Jenn Clifford. Today we have a special guess that we are going to interview questions from the past. Her name is Dorothea Dix and she was involved with The Era of Reform in the early 1820's - 1850's. well guys, lets welcome her out!

Jenn

Hi Dorothea Dix, Welcome to the History Alive show. I'm the host, Jenn Clifford, and we wanted to ask you some questions from the past . Is that okay?

Dix
Thanks for letting me on this show, I'm very honored and sure, you can ask me as many questions as you want.

Jenn
Alright then, the first question we'll ask you is What made you want to teach Sunday school at a jail in 1841?

Dix
Well, i volunteered to teach Sunday School to woman inmates, and i also thought i was doing my Christian duties. But that day changed my life, by what horrible things i saw. Everyone was chained up and in cages.

Jenn
Wow, thats really nice of you to do that to people in jail. Another question is what did you think of the mentally ill people.

Dix
Well, Mentally ill people were judged insane, people believed they should be treated a disease, not a crime. I believed they were able to be cured, by help from their family and friends. I tested it once, with a mentally ill woman, and it seemed to work well.

Jenn
Thats terrible, but i like how what you believe in, you try and try until it works. A question we just got from the audience said What did you ask of the US Congress, after you helped the Mentally ill people in that jail?

Dix
I sent a document to the United States Congress asking that five million acres be set aside and to be used for the mentally ill. However, with that request, i was ahead of my time by advocating a role for the national government in the care of the disadvantaged mentally ill.

Jenn
Thats amazing how much you cared for the mentally ill people back then! Everyone must of loved you for doing so much for them. Our last question for the day is What was your next career after you taught Sunday School at the Jail?

Dix
My next career was i traveled around the world mostly in Europe and i pretty much did the same thing. I visited and inspected jails and help the Mentally ill.

Jenn
Oh good lord, i cant believe how much you did to help the inmates in jail and especially the Mentally ill.

Well Folks, thats all the time we have for today, catch us next time every Sunday at 10 am. And special thanks for inviting Dorthea Dix and her wonderful answers for the questions we were curious about.