A social reformer dedicated to changing conditions for people who could not help themselves, Dorothea Dix was a champion for the mentally ill and the imprisoned. Through her tireless work of over two decades, Dix instituted changes in the treatment and care of the mentally ill and improved prison conditions. 

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was a trained minister whose future changed when he met Alice Cogswell, a young girl who was deaf. In 1817, Gallaudet opened the "Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons" in Hartford, Connecticut; it was the first U.S. deaf school. He had observed European educational methods and recruited a teacher of the deaf, Laurent Clerc, whose work helped develop American Sign Language (ASL).

Biographical Highlights

Mary McLeod Bethune, born to former slaves a decade after the Civil War, devoted her life to ensure the right to education and freedom from discrimination for African Americans. Bethune believed...


Definition

The dictionary defines charity as almsgiving; the private or public relief of unfortunate or needy people; benevolence. The most common connotations are love, kindness, and...

Definition

Carnegie Corporation was created to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." The Corporation works to carry on the vision of philanthropy as explained by Andrew Carnegie, which...

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