Dorothea loved to teach. It was her passion! She wanted to open a school, so poor girls could receive an education. After her father’s death, she was devoted to teaching children and expanding her own horizons. During 1822-1836 she managed to teach her classes and  began to write several books for children. When Dorothea was 39, she entered the East Cambridge Jail. She volunteered to teach a Sunday school for women inmates. While she was at the jail she observed drunks, criminals, prostitutes, retarded individuals, and the mentally ill. At the time, Dorothea’s views about the treatment of the mentally ill were radical. In 1845 she played a huge role in founding 32 mental hospitals, 15 schools for the feeble minded, school for the blind, and numerous training faculties for nurses. The state hospital in Trenton , New Jersey opened in 1881. This was the first hospital that was built through her efforts. Since her health was failing she put herself in the hospital and she passed away on July 17, 1887.