In the late 19th century, a remarkable woman rose to prominence in the field of journalism, breaking barriers and exposing societal injustices. Her name was Nellie Bly, and her fearless reporting and pioneering spirit made her a legend in her own time.
With a pen in hand and a thirst for adventure, Nellie traveled the world, uncovered corruption and abuse, and inspired generations of women to pursue their dreams. Her story is one of courage, determination, and the power of the written word to effect change.
Starting Out
Nellie Bly (or Elizabeth Jane Cochran as she was originally known) was born on May 5, 1854, in Pennsylvania. Her father was a self-made man who had worked his way up from the bottom, starting out as a common laborer before rising to become a wealthy businessman and a judge.
Bly was the 13th of 15th children and her father died when she was just 6 years old. Her family had been wealthy but soon fell into poverty after her father’s death. In 1879, Bly left home and enrolled at Indiana Normal School (now the Indiana University of Pennsylvania) but had to drop out after one year due to money troubles.
Bly’s life changed after reading an article in the Pittsburgh Dispatch called “What Girls Are Good For”. The classically misogynistic piece argued that women were for having babies and cleaning the house. It was like a red rag to a bull.
Bly responded to the article under the pseudonym “Lonely Orphan Girl” with a fiery letter that instantly grabbed the editor’s attention. He tracked Bly down and asked her to author more articles for him. Bly agreed, focusing her early work for the paper on the lives of working women and writing investigative articles on women factory workers.
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The world wasn’t ready for what Bly had to say. The paper soon started receiving complaints and Bly was reassigned to the women’s pages where she tackled more “appropriate topics” like fashion, society, and gardening. To say she wasn’t a fan of her new posting would be an understatement.
Bly quickly quit her job, and at the age of 21, set off for Mexico to work as a foreign correspondent. She soon got into trouble there for criticizing the country’s dictator, Porfirio Diaz, and was forced to flee home to America. Luckily, her big break was just around the corner.
Bly’s Infamous Asylum Expose
Jobless and penniless, Bly received rejection letter after rejection letter upon returning to America. There were just no news jobs for an outspoken young woman like her.
Eventually, she managed to get into the offices of Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World. She was given an undercover assignment, tasked with infiltrating and exposing the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island (now named Roosevelt’s Island).
Getting into the Asylum was harder than Bly had expected. Her first step was to check into a boarding house called the “Temporary House for Females”.
Once there she stayed up for as long as she could, hoping it would give her the wide-eyed and haggard look of a disturbed woman. She then began accusing everyone else boarding there of being crazy, telling a matron, “There are so many crazy people about, and one can never tell what they will do.”
Her “I’m not crazy, everyone else is” ploy worked. Her fellow boarders were so frightened that the police were called. She was taken to a courthouse and examined by a local policeman, judge, and doctor. The three men decided that the young lady was clearly crazy and sent Bly to Blackwell’s Island.
Once at the Asylum Bly uncovered extreme cases of brutality and neglect. Patients were being slapped, choked, and beaten while living conditions were appalling. She also noted how many of her fellow “patients” weren’t mentally ill, they’d been committed by their families due to poverty or other social issues.
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After ten days Bly was released at her paper’s behest. She published her report on 9 October 1887. The article was a massive success and she later extended it into the book, Ten Days in a Mad-House.
Public response was instant and strong. The New York State Legislature allocated an additional $1,000,000 to the Department of Public Charities and Corrections to improve the care of the mentally ill, and an investigation was launched into the conditions at the asylum.
Even better, Bly’s work brought much-needed attention to the plight of the mentally ill and helped to improve their treatment and care across America. She also had a major impact on American culture at large. Bly had shed light on the experiences of marginalized women everywhere and had created what became known as “stunt girl” journalism.
Around the World in 72 Days
The following year Bly used her rockstar status to petition her editor for another big piece. She wanted to travel around the world and turn Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days into fact. After a year to preapre, at 9.40 am on November 14, her amazing journey was underway.
She left from Hoboken, New Jersey, and traveled via the Augusta Victoria to England. From there she traveled to France (meeting Jules Verne along the way), then Italy before making her way along the Suez Canal before traveling to Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.
She reached New York just over 72 days after her departure from Hoboken. Not only had she circumnavigated the globe in record time, but she had also done it almost completely alone. Proving once and for all that a woman could travel alone and accomplish amazing feats.
Nellie Bly was an extraordinary woman who used her writing to shed light on the injustices and abuses in society. From her groundbreaking undercover reporting in the Women’s Lunatic Asylum to her record-breaking journey around the world, Nellie’s courage, determination, and tenacity made her a pioneer in investigative journalism and an inspiration to generations of women.
Her legacy lives on, as her work continues to inspire journalists and writers around the world. Through her fearless reporting and adventurous spirit, Nellie proved the received wisdom of a woman’s role to be utterly false, and that even with society stacked against them, women could accomplish anything they set their minds to. Her story reminds us that the pursuit of truth and justice is a noble and worthwhile endeavor.
Top Image: Nellie Bly, c1890. Source: Corbis / Public Domain.
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