Humanitarian Dorothea Dix was born in Hampden, Maine, in 1802. At the age of 19, she established a school for girls, the Dix Mansion School, in Boston, but had to close it in 1835 due to her poor health. She wrote and published the first of many books for children in 1824. In 1841, Dix accepted an invitation to teach classes at a prison in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was deeply disturbed by the sight of mentally ill persons thrown in the jail and treated like criminals. For the next 18 months, she toured Massachusetts institutions where other mental patients were confined, and reported the shocking conditions she found to the state legislature.

Why did Dorothea Dix first go to a prison?

She wrote and published the first of many books for children in 1824. In 1841, Dix accepted an invitation to teach classes at a prison in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was deeply disturbed by the sight of mentally ill persons thrown in the jail and treated like criminals. For the next 18 months, she toured Massachusetts institutions where other mental patients were confined, and reported the shocking conditions she found to the state legislature. When improvements followed in Massachusetts, she turned her attention to the neighboring states and then to the West and South.

Where was Dorothea Dix first able to bring about reforms in the treatment of the mentally ill?

A quilt is a bed cover made of squares of material pieced together. Each square consists of two layers filled with a layer of wool or cotton cloth, feathers, or down. Often, the squares are decorated with fancy stitches and designs. According to legend, the earliest pieced quilt was stitched in 1704 by Sarah Sedgewick Everett, wife of the governor of the Massachusetts colony. By 1774 George Washington was buying quilts in Belvoir, Virginia, to take back to Martha in Mount Vernon. As the frontier moved westward, quilting went along.

According to legend, who made the first American quilt?

Quilting provided an important social function for the women of the frontier as well. At quilting bees, women met to work on quilts and to share the latest news. Today, however, the homely quilt has become a costly cultural phenomenon. The International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, the "world's fair of quilting;' attracted only 2,500 people and displayed only 200 quilts when it began a dozen years ago. This year there were over 20,000 visitors and 5,000 quilts, some of which sold for as much as $50,000.

In what state is the International Quilt Festival held?

Today, however, the homely quilt has become a costly cultural phenomenon. The International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, the "world's fair of quilting;' attracted only 2,500 people and displayed only 200 quilts when it began a dozen years ago. This year there were over 20,000 visitors and 5,000 quilts, some of which sold for as much as $50,000.

How many quilts were displayed at the first International Quilt Festival?