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Dorothea Lynde Dix

Dorothea Lynde Dix
Artist
Samuel Bell Waugh, 1814 - 1885
Sitter
Dorothea Lynde Dix, 4 Apr 1802 - 18 Jul 1887
Date
1868
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 68.6 x 55.6 x 2.5cm (27 x 21 7/8 x 1")
Frame: 90.2 x 77.5 x 7.6cm (35 1/2 x 30 1/2 x 3")
Topic
Costume\Jewelry\Brooch
Dorothea Lynde Dix: Female
Dorothea Lynde Dix: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist
Dorothea Lynde Dix: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Humanitarian
Dorothea Lynde Dix: Medicine and Health\Nurse
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the St. Elizabeths Hospital Museum
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.97.38
Exhibition Label
Born Hampden, Maine
In 1841, teacher, humanitarian, and reformer Dorothea Dix launched a vigorous campaign to secure humane treatment for those living with mental illness. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Dix was appointed superintendent of women nurses, a job she performed without salary for five years. She set strict standards for her nurses, only accepting women over age thirty and decreeing that all nurses should dress plainly. Her autocratic style brought her into conflict with doctors, nurses, and the army bureaucracy, but she was considered an “angel of mercy” by wounded soldiers.
At the end of the war, she returned to mental health advocacy. One of her legacies was St. Elizabeths Hospital, which she helped to found in 1855 as the first federal facility to treat the mentally ill of the army, navy, and the District of Columbia. St. Elizabeths commissioned this portrait of Dix in 1868.
Nacida en Hampden, Maine
En 1841, la maestra, humanitaria y reformista Dorothea Dix lanzó una vigorosa campaña para reclamar el trato compasivo a las personas con enfermedades mentales. Al estallar la Guerra Civil fue nombrada superintendente de enfermeras, labor que desempeñó sin salario por cinco años. Estableció normas estrictas para sus enfermeras y aceptaba solo a mayores de 30 años, decretando que todas debían vestir con sencillez. Su estilo autocrático causó conflicto con los doctores, enfermeras y la burocracia militar, pero los soldados heridos la consideraban un “ángel de misericordia”.
Al final de la guerra regresó a su campaña por la salud mental. Uno de sus legados fue el Hospital St. Elizabeths, el cual ayudó a fundar en 1855. Fue la primera instalación federal para tratar a enfermos mentales de las fuerzas armadas y el Distrito de Columbia. Este retrato fue encargado por St. Elizabeths en 1868.
Provenance
The sitter; gift to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington; transferred to NPG 1997
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 111