In conjunction with one of her first assignments for the World, she spent several days on Blackwell's Island, posing as a mental patient for an expos. Though most of her works were based on throwing light at the appalling condition of women in the society, and the need to uplift them, she is best remembered for her work on an asylum expos in 1887 in which she faked insanity to get into a mental asylum and reported about the horrific condition of the mental patients. Following her marriage, she retired from journalism and became the president of her husband's Iron Clad Manufacturing Company. How many siblings did Coretta Scott King have? New-York Historical Society Library. Nellie Bly - Wikipedia On January 25, 1890, the world waited for a young reporter named Nellie Bly to arrive back home. Madden offered her an opportunity to write another column, and after she submitted her column on how divorce affects women, he hired her for the newspaper (giving her the pseudonym Nellie Bly). In early 2019, Lifetime released a thriller based on Bly's experience as an undercover reporter in a women's mental ward. (New York, N.Y.), 14 Nov. 1889. After her return, she toured the country as a lecturer. But her negligence, and embezzlement by a factory manager, resulted in the Iron Clad Manufacturing Co. going bankrupt. The investigative nature of her articles and her cry for womens rights issues did not go too well with the editors of the newspaper who pushed her into the so-called women's pages to cover fashion, society, and gardening. With an attempt to break the faux record of the character of Phileas Fogg, Bly began her 24, 899 mile journey on November 14, 1889, boarding the Augusta Victoria. The Sibling Society The Sibling Society Reconsidering the Siblings, a Critical Study of Robert Bly's The Sibling Society The Sibling Society Mirabai Iron John Leaping Poetry A Little Book on the Human Shadow Morning Poems The Teeth-Mother Naked at Last Growing Yourself Back Up Talking Into the . Engraving. She often exposed the poor working conditions faced by women. Sherwood, D., Gabriel, R., Brescovit, A. D. & Lucas, S. M. (2022). In 1895, Bly married millionaire manufacturer Robert Seaman. July 28, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/28/she-went-undercover-expose-an-insane-asylums-horrors-now-nellie-bly-is-getting-her-due/. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). She moved to New York City in 1886, but found it extremely difficult to find work as a female reporter in the male-dominated field. Following her marriage, she retired from journalism and became the president of her husbands Iron Clad Manufacturing Company. [15] In one report, she protested the imprisonment of a local journalist for criticizing the Mexican government, then a dictatorship under Porfirio Daz. In 1895, Elizabeth retired from writing and married Robert Livingston Seaman. She is also well-known for making a trip around the world for a record 72 days, beating a fictitious record that had been set by . Her article's headline was "Suffragists Are Men's Superiors" and in its text she accurately predicted that it would be 1920 before women in the United States would be given the right to vote. As was the trend then, women writers wrote under pen names. Died: January 27, 1922, New York City, NY. Print Page Nellie Bly Nellie Bly, c. 1890. Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mill, Pennsylvania. The story of Nellie Bly, the pen name of a young reporter named Elizabeth Cochran, has been told and retold ever since she burst onto the scene in 1887. Nellie Bly was known for her pioneering journalism, including her 1887 expos on the conditions of asylum patients at Blackwell's Island in New York City and her report of her 72-day trip around the world. Elizabeth traveled light, taking only the dress she wore, a cape, and a small travelers bag. Elizabeth Cochran (she later added a final e to Cochran) received scant formal schooling. Well never share your email with anyone else, Nellie Bly became a star journalist by going undercover as a patient at a New York City mental health asylum in 1887 and exposing its terrible conditions in the, Bly looked for work to help support her family, but found fewer opportunities than her less-educated brothers. The Historic New Orleans Collection, acc. By Barbara Maranzani Updated: Nov 12, 2020. [11], Burdened again with theater and arts reporting, Bly left the Pittsburgh Dispatch in 1887 for New York City. In 188687 she traveled for several months through Mexico, sending back reports on official corruption and the condition of the poor. Cochrans editor chose the name Nelly Bly from a Stephen Foster song. Unscrupulous employees bilked the firm of hundreds of thousands of dollars, troubles compounded by protracted and costly bankruptcy litigation. Unable to maintain the land or their house, Bly's family left Cochran's Mill. To escape writing about womens issues on the society page, Elizabeth volunteered to travel to Mexico. How many children did Catherine Parr have? In 1880, her mother moved the family to Pittsburg, and Nellie Bly caught the eye of "The Pittsburg Dispatch" editor George Madden, when she wrote a response to the article "What Girls Are Good For." Nellie Bly was ousted from Mexico after she ran a series of articles criticizing the Mexican dictator and ruler, Porfirio Diaz. How many siblings did Lucretia Garfield have? [38], Bly wrote stories on Europe's Eastern Front during World War I. Blys successful career reached new heights in 1889 when she decided to travel around the world after reading the popular book by Jules Verne, At the age of 30, Bly married millionaire Robert Seamen and retired from journalism. Although several newspapers turned down her application because she was a woman, she was eventually given the opportunity to write for Joseph Pulitzers New York World. From France she went to Italy and Egypt, through South Asia to Singapore and Japan, then to San Francisco and back to New York. How many sisters did Ernest Shackleton have? Blys husband died in 1903, leaving her in control of the massive Iron Clad Manufacturing Company and. How many siblings did Mother Teresa have? http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html, Janet Yellen: The Progress of Women and Minorities in the Field of Economics, Elinor Lin Ostrom, Nobel Prize Economist, Chronicles of American Women: Your History Makers, Women Writing History: A Coronavirus Journaling Project, We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC, Learning Resources on Women's Political Participation, https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1601472, https://wams.nyhistory.org/modernizing-america/modern-womanhood/nellie-bly/, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nellie-bly, https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/28/she-went-undercover-expose-an-insane-asylums-horrors-now-nellie-bly-is-getting-her-due/, https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/learn/women-forging-way/nellie-bly-around-the-world. When Robert died in 1904, Elizabeth briefly took over as president of his companies. Life Story: Elizabeth Cochrane, aka Nellie Bly (1864-1922), Women & The American Story, New-York Historical Society Library and Museum. In 1887, at age 23, reporter Nellie Bly, working for Joseph Pulitzer, feigns mental illness to go undercover in notorious Blackwell's Island a woman's insane asylum to expose corruption, abuse and murder. Her report was compiled into a book, Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887), and led to lasting institutional reforms. [49], During the 1990s, playwright Lynn Schrichte wrote and toured Did You Lie, Nellie Bly?, a one-woman show about Bly. Given the green light to try the feat by the New York World, Bly embarked on her journey from Hoboken, New Jersey, in November 1889, traveling first by ship and later also via horse, rickshaw, sampan, burro and other vehicles. NASA on The Commons, via flickr, Home / Modernizing America, 1889-1920 / Modern Womanhood / Life Story: Nellie Bly. The second-season episode "New York City" featured her undercover exploits in the Blackwell's Island asylum,[58] while the third-season episode "Journalism" retold the story of her race around the world against Elizabeth Bisland.[59]. Death date: January 27, 1922. Promenading with Lunatics: Nellie Bly's Brave Undercover - Medium MLA Norwood, Arlisha and Mariana Brandman. Upon her husbands death in 1904, Bly took the helm of his Iron Clad Manufacturing Co. During her time there, she began manufacturing the first practical 55-gallon steel oil drum, which evolved into the standard one used today. The Girl Puzzle - Wikipedia On May 5, 2015, the Google search engine produced an interactive "Google Doodle" for Bly; for the "Google Doodle" Karen O wrote, composed, and recorded an original song about Bly, and Katy Wu created an animation set to Karen O's music. She used the pen name Nellie Bly, which she took from a well-known song at the time, Nelly Bly. Bly was a popular columnist, but she was limited to writing pieces that only addressed women and soon quit in dissatisfaction. [57], Bly has been the subject of two episodes of the Comedy Central series Drunk History. Nellie Bly's stint in the facility wasn't necessarily how she envisioned making a name for herself. A fireboat named Nellie Bly operated in Toronto, Canada, in the first decade of the 20th century. How many siblings did Amy Carmichael have? Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. How many siblings did Dorothy Vaughan have? To sustain interest in the story, the World organized a "Nellie Bly Guessing Match" in which readers were asked to estimate Bly's arrival time to the second, with the Grand Prize consisting at first of a trip to Europe and, later on, spending money for the trip. With her courageous and bold act, she cemented her legacy as one of the most notable journalists in history. PDF The Sibling Society Robert Bly - Spenden.medair.org Interestingly, rival newspaper New York Cosmopolitan had sent their reporter Elizabeth Bisland on a similar journey but she arrived four days later. With Caroline Barry, Christopher Lambert, Kelly LeBrock, Julia Chantrey. How many siblings did Anne Sullivan have? Bly suffered a tragic loss in 1870, at the age of six, when her father died suddenly. The most famous of Elizabeths stunts was her successful seventy-two-day trip around the world in 1889, for which she had two goals. Her father had ten children from his first marriage and five children from his second marriage to Elizabeths mother, Mary Jane Kennedy. In response to an article in the. Her plan was to graduate and find a position as a teacher. Nellie Bly was born on May 5, 1864 in Cochran Mill, Pennsylvania. In 1887, Bly relocated to New York City and began working for the New York World, the publication that later became famously known for spearheading "yellow journalism." Nellie Bly Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements New York, Nellie Bly Press, 2017. In business, her curiosity and independent spirit flourished. She moved back to Pittsburgh to help her mother run a boarding house. The New York World completely supported her ambitious feat. In 1895, Bly married millionaire industrialist Robert Seaman, who was 40 years her senior, and she became legally known as Elizabeth Jane Cochrane Seaman. Full_Name: Elizabeth Jane Cochran. Bly later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. [69], The board game Round the World with Nellie Bly created in 1890 is named in recognition of her trip. In a tribute after her death, the acclaimed newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane remembered Bly as the best reporter in America., Kroeger, Brooke. Quick Quiz: Around The World With Nellie Bly. She started a new trend in reporting that earned her recognition as an undercover reporter. Bernard, Karen. However, after his death, the family . How many siblings did Marie Antoinette have? The marriage was the second one for both Michael and Bly's mother, Mary Jane, who wed after the deaths of their first spouses. Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, mission specialist, carries her son Wilson Miles-Ochoa following the STS-96 crew return at Ellington Field. Her reporting on life in the asylum shocked the public and led to increased funding to improve conditions in the institution. Madden immediately offered her a job as a columnist. Cochrane rode on ships and trains, in rickshaws and sampans, on horses and burros. She also interviewed influential and controversial figures, including Emma Goldman in 1893. [41], In 1998, Bly was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She published all of her works as Elizabeth Bisland .