1983 Dorothea Dix Block of 4 1c Postage Stamps - MNH, OG - Sc# 1844
In 1941 Dorothea Dix volunteered to teach a women's Sunday school class in the East Cambridge jail in Massachusetts. She discovered the women huddled together in a barren cell, with no heat. These women's only crime was that they were mentally ill. After asking that the jail cell be heated, the jailer replied, "The insane do not feel the cold". Revolted by such callousness, Dix conducted a statewide investigation of how Massachusetts cared for the insane poor. In most cases, towns contracted with local individuals to care for people with mental disorders who could not care for themselves, and who lacked family and friends to provide for them. Unregulated and underfunded, this system produced widespread abuse. After her survey, Dix published the results in a fiery report, a Memorial, to the state legislature. "I proceed, Gentlemen, briefly to call your attention to the present state of Insane Persons confined within this Commonwealth, in cages, stalls, pens! Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience." The outcome of her lobbying was a bill to expand the state's mental hospital in Worcester
These are real USPS postage stamps that are accepted by the USA Postal Service as payment for mail posted in the USA however the total rates on the stamps posted must equal or exceed the current appropriate postal mailing rate or extra postage must be paid.
The stamp set shown in the picture is a stock photo and is likely not a picture of the exact stamp set you will receive and it may differ in plate number and/or orientation. However the item you will receive will be similar including having a plate number (if one is present in the photos) and the same number of stamps. Stamps titled as MNH, OG will have no significant creases or unnatural gum disturbances unless otherwise noted.