Chapter 15 ? The Ferment of Reform and Culture Vocabulary Dorothea Dix- responsible for improving conditions in jails, poorhouses and insane asylums throughout the u.s. and Canada; served as the superintendant of nurses for the union army during the civil war Washington Irving- author- "rip van winkle" and "the legend of sleepy hollow," the first american to be recognized in england (and elsewhere) as a writer Oliver Wendell Holmes- he is often considered considered one of the greatest justices in supreme court history. his opinions and famous dissents in favor of individual liberties are still frequently quoted today. he argued that current necessity rather than precedent should determine the rules by which people are governed; that experience, not logic, should be the basis of law.