In the Mount Auburn cemetery near Boston, Massachusetts, there's a marble marker bearing the simple legend 'Dorothea L Dix. Over it stands the American flag and the standard of the corp of army nurses. Why is Dorothea Dix so honored? Because of a mission to which she dedicated her life. A mission which she described in these words:

"To bring a little comfort where there is pain, a little reason where there is ignorance, a little hope where there is fear, and a little progress. I have faith in the people of this state and of this country, that if they are given the truth, if they are informed of injustice and brutality, they will act."

This is the story of Dorothea Lynde Dix's fight to wipe out such injustice and brutality, and to bring light where there was only darkness. It begins on a Sunday morning in 1841...