Dorothea Dix is a person to be emulated today.
Dix visited the poor and found them chained and neglected in jails and prisons. She used her first-hand experiences to successfully lobby North Carolina's legislature to found its first asylum in 1859.
A National Monument honoring Dix's Legacy of advocating for persons with mental illness would not preclude the use of part of the campus for a Park.
It may be that only by creation of a National Monument that historic preservation is included in the plans for the future of the former hospital's campus. The staff of Raleigh's Parks and Recreation Dept. have vowed to protect the cemetery, but there is no funding assured for its maintenance.
We also request protection for the McBryde Building, the former hospital, which is on Historic Registry.