[57], Bly has been the subject of two episodes of the Comedy Central series Drunk History. National Women's History Museum, 2022. Her illustrious career also included a headline-making journey around the world, running an oil manufacturing firm, and reporting on World War I from Europe. Elizabeth Cochran Seaman (born Elizabeth Jane Cochran; May 5, 1864 January 27, 1922), better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist, who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, in emulation of Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg, and an expos in which she worked undercover to report on a mental institution from within. episode "Jack's Back". [14] Her second article, "Mad Marriages", was about how divorce affected women. In 1887, Bly stormed into the office of the New York World, one of the leading newspapers in the country. Cihak and Zima (photographer), Ida B. Wells-Barnett, ca. [15] "Mad Marriages" was published under the byline of Nellie Bly, rather than "Lonely Orphan Girl". What might she have been able to do that men could not? How many siblings did Marie Antoinette have? Her reporting not only raised awareness about mental health treatment and led to improvements in institutional conditions, it also ushered in an age of investigative journalism. 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. How many siblings did Sybil Ludington have? She lived there as an international correspondent for the Dispatch for six months. [22], Committed to the asylum, Bly experienced the deplorable conditions firsthand. In 1887, Bly stormed into the office of the, Blys six-part series on her experience in the asylum was called. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. [19] When Mexican authorities learned of Bly's report, they threatened her with arrest, prompting her to flee the country. Michael had 10 children with his first wife and five more with Mary Jane, who had no prior children. How many siblings did Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton have? How many children did Abigail Adams have? In 1887, 23-year-old reporter Nellie Bly had herself committed to a New York City asylum to expose the horrific conditions for 19th-century mental patients. [60], Bly has been featured as the protagonist of novels by David Blixt,[61] Marshall Goldberg,[62] Dan Jorgensen,[63] Carol McCleary,[64] Pearry Reginald Teo, Maya Rodale,[65] and Christine Converse. Bly's expos, published in the World soon after her return to reality, was a massive success. How many siblings did Patricia Bath have? Ten Days in a Mad-House was a raging success and brought Nellie Bly immense fame and recognition as a writer and civil rights activist. Engraving. Her plan was to graduate and find a position as a teacher. She moved back to Pittsburgh to help her mother run a boarding house. Her image was used on everything from playing cards to board games. Nellie Bly managed to circumnavigate the world in just 72 days, eight less than Jules Verne's fictitious hero, Phileas Fogg, who inspired the feat. Biography of Nellie Bly, Investigative Journalist, World Traveler. Her trip around the world in 72 days brought her even further fame. In it, she explained that New York City invested more money into care for the mentally ill after her articles were published. 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." National Women's History Museum. By Barbara Maranzani Updated: Nov 12, 2020. This is a short thirty-minute lesson on Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Bly later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. Omissions? Promenading with Lunatics: Nellie Bly's Brave Undercover - Medium Early in life, she was compelled to speak truth to power when she testified on her mother's behalf against an abusive stepfather. Her father, Michael Cochran, owned a lucrative mill and served as associate justice of Armstrong County. She completed the trip in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 secondssetting a real-world record, despite her fictional inspiration for the undertaking. Her honest reporting about the horrors of workers lives attracted negative attention from local factory owners. Chien-shiung Wu (1912-1997), professor of physics at Columbia University, 1963. In 1888, inspired by Jules Vernes 1873 novel Around the World in Eighty Days, Bly aimed to turn the fictional tale into reality. 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. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. She also interviewed and wrote pieces on several prominent figures of the time, including Emma Goldman and Susan B. Anthony. . Nellie Bly embarked on her journey from Hoboken, New Jersey, travelling first by ship but later by other vehicles. Life Story: Elizabeth Cochrane, aka Nellie Bly (1864-1922) World-Traveling Journalist and Muckraker The story of an investigative journalist who used her career to shed light on the horrors of urban life and break gender stereotypes. Bly told the assistant matron: "There are so many crazy people about, and one can never tell what they will do. This article was most recently revised and updated by, 8 of Nellie Bly's Most Sensational Stories. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Who Is Dilbert Cartoonist Scott Adams? Her time was 72 days 6 hours 11 minutes 14 seconds. It was there that she added an e to her last name, becoming Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. Nellie Bly: Around the World in 72 Days. Senator John Heinz History Center. Elizabeths mother soon remarried, but quickly divorced her second husband because of abuse, and relocated the family to Pittsburgh. Wanting to write pieces that addressed both men and women, Bly began looking for a newspaper that would allow her to write on more serious topics. Activist journalists like Elizabethcommonly known as muckrakerswere an important part of reform movements. Her expos of conditions among the patients, published in the World and later collected in Ten Days in a Mad House (1887), precipitated a grand-jury investigation of the asylum and helped bring about needed improvements in patient care. Blys six-part series on her experience in the asylum was called Ten Days in the Madhouse and quickly made Bly one of the most famous journalists in the country. Unfortunately, Bly did not manage the finances well and fell victim to fraud by employees that led the firm to declare bankruptcy. Biography: You Need to Know: Agness Underwood. Watch Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story on Lifetime Movie Club. Nellie Bly PBS: American Experience, Accessed 23 March 23, 2017 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/world/peopleevents/pande01.html, Life Story: Elizabeth Cochrane, aka Nellie Bly (1864-1922), Women & The American Story, New-York Historical Society Library and Museum, https://wams.nyhistory.org/modernizing-america/modern-womanhood/nellie-bly/. The newspapers editor, George A. Madden, was so impressed with the letter that he published a note asking the Lonely Orphan Girl to reveal her name. Ten Little-Known Facts about Nellie Bly - Tonya Mitchell It was for the Dispatch that she began using the pen name Nellie Bly, borrowed from a popular Stephen Foster song. How many siblings did Catherine of Aragon 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. 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. Also around this time, she retired from journalism, and by all accounts, the couple enjoyed a happy marriage. A young journalist looks behind the curtain of a nearby mental hospital, only to uncover the grim and gruesome acts they bestow upon their "patients". How many brothers and sisters did Theodore Roosevelt have? When Bly was six, her father died suddenly and without a will. Baker's career as an actress took place from 1921-1934 and she performed in 13 films. Activist journalists like Elizabethcommonly known as muckrakerswere an important part of reform movements. Smithsonian Institute Archives Image # SIA 2010-1509. Nellie Bly: The Journalist Who Pretended To Be Insane To Get Into A [26], Back in reporting, she covered the Woman Suffrage Procession of 1913 for the New York Evening Journal. http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html. 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. [48], Bly was the subject of the 1946 Broadway musical Nellie Bly by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen. Nellie Bly was a nationally significant journalist at the New York World. Nellie Bly's stint in the facility wasn't necessarily how she envisioned making a name for herself. 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. How many siblings did Nellie Bly have? | Homework.Study.com [21], It was not easy for Bly to be admitted to the Asylum: she first decided to check herself into a boarding house called "Temporary Homes for Females". Unscrupulous employees bilked the firm of hundreds of thousands of dollars, troubles compounded by protracted and costly bankruptcy litigation. Her New York debut, at age 23, was a harrowing two-part expos of the Woman's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's (now Roosevelt) Island for which she had feigned insanity and fooled a battalion of Bellevue doctors and curious reporters from competing papers to get inside. She faced rejection after rejection as news editors would not consider hiring a woman. "[18] She then traveled to Mexico to serve as a foreign correspondent, spending nearly half a year reporting on the lives and customs of the Mexican people; her dispatches later were published in book form as Six Months in Mexico. Nellie Bly - Story, Timeline & Facts - Biography Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist. The park reopened in 2007[71] under new management, renamed "Adventurers Amusement Park". How many siblings did Sojourner Truth have? Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania. How many siblings did Mother Teresa have? In 1895, Bly married millionaire manufacturer Robert Seaman. Her straightforward yet compassionate approach to these issues captivated audiences. The show ran for 16 performances. National Women's History Museum. Collection of the New-York Historical Society. [39] Bly was the first woman and one of the first foreigners to visit the war zone between Serbia and Austria. 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 Wilma Rudolph have? Chicago- Norwood, Arlisha and Mariana Brandman. Born in 1864, Bly was the thirteenth of 15 children in a family headed by Michael Cochran, a mill owner and county judge. 1. During her travels around the world, she went through England, France, Brindisi, the Suez Canal, Colombo, the Straits Settlements of Penang and Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Astrological Sign: Taurus, Death Year: 1922, Death date: January 27, 1922, Death State: New York, Death City: New York, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Nellie Bly Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/activist/nellie-bly, Publisher: A&E Television Networks, Last Updated: April 19, 2021, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. Bly's celebrity reached an international level with her mission to travel around the world in 80 days, just as the character Phileas Fogg did in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. Now Nellie Bly is getting her due., Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World. She is often confused with the journalist Nellie Bly (1864-1922). It was one of the few things that helped set her apart from her 14 siblings. Elizabeth Cochran was born on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mills, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth marched into the Dispatch offices and introduced herself. Quick Quiz: Around The World With Nellie Bly. Her trip only took 72 days, which set a world record. [74] From early in the twentieth century until 1961, the Pennsylvania Railroad operated an express train named the Nellie Bly on a route between New York and Atlantic City, bypassing Philadelphia. The students will discuss diversity within the economics profession and in the federal government, and the functions of the Federal Reserve System and U. S. monetary policy, by reviewing a historic timeline and analyzing the acts of Janet Yellen. Journalist Nellie Bly began writing for the Pittsburgh Dispatch in 1885. In response to an article in the. (New York, N.Y.), 14 Nov. 1889. Her mother remarried but divorced in 1878 due to abuse. Due to the familys financial struggles, she left the school after one term and soon moved with her mother to Pittsburgh, where her two older brothers had settled. Interestingly, rival newspaper New York Cosmopolitan had sent their reporter Elizabeth Bisland on a similar journey but she arrived four days later. 10 Days in a Madhouse: Directed by Timothy Hines. 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." In business, her curiosity and independent spirit flourished. How many siblings did Benazir Bhutto have? [29][30] During her travels around the world, Bly went through England, France (where she met Jules Verne in Amiens), Brindisi, the Suez Canal, Colombo (in Ceylon), the Straits Settlements of Penang and Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. [70], The Nellie Bly Amusement Park in Brooklyn, New York City, was named after her, taking as its theme Around the World in Eighty Days. In her later years, Bly returned to journalism, covering World War I from Europe and continuing to shed light on major issues that impacted women. However, he also misspelled the name, and she became Nellie Bly.. Death date: January 27, 1922. The newspapers editor, George Madden, saw potential in her piece and invited her to work for the Dispatch as a reporter. In 1911, she returned to journalism as a reporter for the New York Evening Journal. Seaman died in 1904. Nellie Bly was the most famous American woman reporter of the 19th century. The young, intrepid reporter who graced the pages of the New York World at the end of the 19th century led a busy life. 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 the piece, writer Erasmus Wilson (known to Dispatch readers as the "Quiet Observer," or Q.O.) Brief Life History of Jonathan J Unknown photographer, A Typical Boomer Family, ca. [41], In 1998, Bly was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Elizabeth traveled light, taking only the dress she wore, a cape, and a small travelers bag. Between 1889 and 1895, Nellie Bly also penned twelve novels for The New York Family Story Paper. [8], As a young girl, Elizabeth often was called "Pinky" because she so frequently wore that color. In it, she explores the country's people and customs, and even stumbles upon marijuana. She left the newspaper industry after her marriage to serve as the president of her husbands company, Iron Clad Manufacturing Co. As a social reformer she gave over-the-top perks to her employees but the scheme cost the company so dearly that it went bankrupt. For the first 20 or so years of her life, Nellie Bly was known not as Nellie, nor as Elizabeth Jane Cochran, which was her birth name, but as "Pink," due to her fondness for the color, according to New World Encyclopedia. His farm, mill, and the surrounding area became known as "Cochran's Mill" (part of a suburb of Pittsburgh). How many siblings did Emily Dickinson have? [68], Bly is one of 100 women featured in the first version of the book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls written by Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo. As a child she wore it so often she was nicknamed Pinky. How many siblings did Martha Washington have? In early 2019, Lifetime released a thriller based on Bly's experience as an undercover reporter in a women's mental ward. Also Known As: Elizabeth Jane Cochran, Elisabeth Cochrane Seaman, place of death: New York City, United States, Notable Alumni: Indiana University Of Pennsylvania, education: Indiana University Of Pennsylvania, See the events in life of Nellie Bly in Chronological Order, (Journalist and Writer Known for Her Record-BreakingTrip Around the Worldin 72 Days), http://www.newseum.org/2015/03/17/unsung-heroes-nellie-bly/, http://womenshistory.about.com/od/blynellie/p/Nellie-Bly.htm, https://www.post-gazette.com/life/lifestyle/2015/01/25/Honoring-Nellie-Bly-s-trip-125-years-ago-a-British-woman-retraces-her-steps-around-the-globe/stories/201501250014, https://www.biography.com/people/nellie-bly-9216680. Just two years after reviving her writing career, on January 27, 1922, Bly died from pneumonia in New York City. How many siblings did Elizabeth Blackwell have? claimed that women were best served by conducting domestic duties and called the working woman "a monstrosity." She began working for the New York Evening Journal in 1920 and reported on numerous events, including the growing womens suffrage movement. What does that mean, and how did her writing contribute to reform efforts on a variety of issues? It was initially published as a series of articles for the New York World. New-York Historical Society Library. The most famous of Elizabeths stunts was her successful seventy-two-day trip around the world in 1889, for which she had two goals. 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. She went undercover at a factory where she experienced unsafe working conditions, poor wages, and long hours. [13] Her first article for the Dispatch, titled "The Girl Puzzle", argued that not all women would marry and that what was needed were better jobs for women. [24] She had a significant impact on American culture and shed light on the experiences of marginalized women beyond the bounds of the asylum as she ushered in the era of stunt girl journalism. Kroeger, Brooke. Bly continued to publish influential pieces of journalism, including interviews with prominent individuals like anarchist activist and writer Emma Goldman and socialist politician and labor organizer Eugene V. Debs. But Bly was hopeless at understanding the financial aspects of her business and ultimately lost everything. 2022. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nellie-bly. 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. Following her superlative success with the Blackwell expose, she continued with her investigative series of work, exposing improper treatment in New York jails and factories, corruption in state legislature and so on. Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story (TV Movie 2019) - IMDb Corrections? During World War I, she traveled to Europe as the first woman to report from the trenches on the front line. Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania. Within her lifetime, Nellie Bly published three non-fiction books (compilations of her newspaper reportage) and one novel in book form. All Rights Reserved. [74], Cover of the 1890 board game Round the World with Nellie Bly. [citation needed] Julia Duffy appeared as Bly in the July 10, 1983 Voyagers! [40], On January 27, 1922, Bly died of pneumonia at St. Mark's Hospital, New York City, aged 57. 1890. Elizabeth hoped the massive newspaper industry of New York City would be more open-minded to a female journalist and left Pittsburgh. To what extent did Elizabeths trip around the world redefine ideas of what it meant to be a woman? How many children did Catherine of Aragon have? She was far and away the best-known woman journalist of her day. In 1880, the family moved to Pittsburgh where Elizabeth supported her single mother by running a boarding house. The evening world. Ten Days in the Madhouse. Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mill, Pennsylvania.