Diocletian Lewis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Diocletian Lewis
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| Born | March 3, 1823 |
| Died | (aged 63) |
| Other names | Dr. Dio Lewis |
| Occupation | Temperance leader, physical culture advocate |
Diocletian Lewis (March 3, 1823 – May 21, 1886), also known as Dr. Dio Lewis, was a well-known leader. He supported the temperance movement, which encouraged people to live without alcohol. He also promoted physical culture, which means staying healthy through exercise. Dr. Lewis practiced homeopathy, a type of medicine, and he even invented the beanbag!
Contents
Dio Lewis's Life Story
Growing Up and Early Education
Diocletian Lewis was born on a farm near Auburn, New York. When he was 12, he left school to work in a cotton factory. Later, he worked in a factory that made tools like hoes and axes. He also went back to school during this time.
At 15, he started teaching. When he was 18, he created a school in Lower Sandusky, Ohio. This town is now called Fremont. He added new subjects like algebra, geometry, Greek, and Latin to the lessons. The people in town were so impressed that they built a school building for him. They even named the school the Diocletian Institute in his honor. He worked very hard to learn new things so he could teach his students. After a year, he became very ill and had to leave the school.
Becoming a Doctor
Lewis decided he wanted to study medicine. For three years, he worked in the office of a doctor at the Auburn State Prison. Then, he studied at Harvard Medical School. He couldn't finish his studies there because he ran out of money.
After leaving Harvard, he opened a medical practice in Port Byron, New York. His partner, Lewis McCarthy, introduced him to homeopathy. This led him to study at the Homeopathic Hospital College of Cleveland, Ohio. In 1848, he opened a practice in Buffalo, New York. He also started a monthly magazine called The Homœopathist.
After a year in Buffalo, he married Helen Cecelia Clarke. In 1852, he closed his practice and traveled south with Helen for her health. Three of her sisters had died from tuberculosis, and Helen was showing signs of the same illness. Lewis said he used homeopathy to help his wife get better. His "Consumption Cure" became very popular and successful. Helen also helped him with his writings. She wrote her own articles about healthy living for women.
Sharing Health Ideas
From 1852 to 1860, Lewis traveled and gave many talks. He spoke about hygiene (being clean), temperance, and how the body works. He started by speaking about health in schools. In 1853, he gave his first public talk. It was about "The Influence of Christian Women in the Cause of Temperance." He had joined a group called "The Sons of Temperance." He noticed they didn't want women to join, which inspired his lecture. In 1856, he visited Paris to gather information for his talks about the human body. He also visited hospitals there.
Creating New Exercises
While giving lectures, Lewis started to create a new way of exercising. He felt that the popular German gymnastics were only good for strong young men. These exercises didn't help boys, older men, or women who needed exercise the most. By June 1860, he felt he had a good system. He moved near Boston to share his ideas. He believed Boston would be a good place for new educational ideas. He was right!
Evening exercise classes were started in several towns near Boston. These included West Newton, Newtonville, Newton, Newton Upper Falls, and Watertown. His new exercise system was also taught in schools in Framingham and Boston. A public gym for men, women, and children opened in Boston. In August 1860, he gave a talk at a conference in Boston. This helped educators from all over the United States learn about his new system.
In the spring of 1861, Lewis started the Normal Institute for Physical Education. This school was also known as the Boston Normal Physical Training School. The president of Harvard University, Cornelius C. Felton, agreed to be the president of Lewis's school. Many important people were on the board of directors. These included Governor John A. Andrew and Edward Everett Hale. The teachers included doctors who taught about anatomy, physiology, and hygiene. Dio Lewis himself taught gymnastics. In seven years, 500 students graduated from the school. Lewis's ideas greatly influenced how physical education is taught in schools across the United States today.
A School for Girls
For three years, from 1864 to 1867, Lewis ran a school for girls in Lexington, Massachusetts. Theodore Dwight Weld was a main teacher there. Catharine Beecher also gave talks at the school. In September 1867, the school building burned down. They found a temporary place, but the school closed after another year. The number of students grew to 140 in the third year. Almost 300 girls attended the school during its time.
Leading the Temperance Movement
In the 1870s, Lewis and his mother started leading groups of people. They would go into places that sold alcohol to pray for them to close. Lewis later gave talks in churches. He claimed amazing things happened when these "Visitation Bands" prayed. Lewis's actions and talks inspired others to do the same. This started the Women's Crusade against alcohol.
Lewis gave a public talk in Hillsboro, Ohio, called "Our Girls." In this talk, he encouraged women to exercise and live active lives. On Sundays, he spoke about "The Duty of Christian Women in the Cause of Temperance." In these talks, he told women to ask alcohol sellers to promise to stop selling it. If they refused, the women should start praying and singing in those places. He wanted only women to do this. He believed it would make the movement more powerful.
Women went out into the snowy streets. Within three months of their first march, they had stopped the alcohol business in 250 towns. By the time the marches ended, over 912 communities in 31 states had taken part.
This was the largest movement of women at that time. Frances Willard, a later leader of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, wrote about it. She said it was like starting a fire on the prairies. A match and a bit of grass were all that was needed. Then, a huge fire would sweep across the land.
Lewis claimed that over 17,000 places selling alcohol closed in Ohio alone in two months. However, most of these places reopened a few days later.
Family Life
Diocletian Lewis was the brother of Loran L. Lewis. Loran was a judge and a politician.
Books by Dio Lewis
- The New Gymnastics (1862)
- Weak Lungs and How to Make them Strong (1863)
- Talks About People's Stomachs (1870)
- Our Girls (1871)
- Chats with Young Women (1871)
- "Our Digestion /or, My Jolly Friend's Secret" (1872)
- Chastity (1872)
- Gypsies (1881)
- In a Nutshell (1883)
