Nellie Bly married manufacturer Robert Seaman in 1895. Pace, Lawson. 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. Thought lost, these novels were not collected in book form until their re-discovery in 2021.[75]. The articles were subsequently collected in Six Months in Mexico (1888). Biography of Nellie Bly, Investigative Journalist, World Traveler. 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. But Bly was hopeless at understanding the financial aspects of her business and ultimately lost everything. 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. New-York Historical Society Library. How many siblings did Lucretia Garfield have? How many siblings did Zora Neale Hurston have? In 1887, Bly stormed into the office of the, Blys six-part series on her experience in the asylum was called. Bolstered by continuous coverage in the World, Bly earned international stardom for her months-long stunt, and her fame continued to grow after she safely returned to her native state and her record-setting achievement was announced. Bly later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. Bly went on to patent several inventions related to oil manufacturing, many of which are still used today. 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). 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. Nellie Blys first major work as a reporter was when she did the asylum expose for New York World. Her work Ten Days in a Mad House was a phenomenal success and won her great acclaim. of Congress. New York, Nellie Bly Press, 2017. She went undercover at a factory where she experienced unsafe working conditions, poor wages, and long hours. 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/. Nellie Bly, pseudonym of Elizabeth Cochrane, also spelled Cochran, (born May 5, 1864, Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania, U.S.died January 27, 1922, New York, New York), American journalist whose around-the-world race against a fictional record brought her world renown. [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. She met Jules Verne at his home in France. In response to an article in the Pittsburg[h] Dispatch that criticized the presence of women in the workforce, Bly penned an open letter to the editor that called for more opportunities for women, especially those responsible for the financial wellbeing of their families. It was there that she added an e to her last name, becoming Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. Most of Blys early works revolved around the negative consequences of sexist ideologies and emphasized the importance of women's rights issues. 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. Bly went on to gain more fame in 1889, when she traveled around the world in an attempt to break the faux record of Phileas Fogg, the fictional title character of Jules Verne's 1873 novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. How many siblings did Louisa May Alcott have? Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, mission specialist, carries her son Wilson Miles-Ochoa following the STS-96 crew return at Ellington Field. How many sisters did Martha Washington have? For 72 days, as she jumped cargo ships, trains, tugboats, and rickshaws, newspaper readers had. Elizabeths investigations brought attention to inequalities and often motivated others to take action. Activist journalists like Elizabethcommonly known as muckrakerswere an important part of reform movements. Into the Madhouse with Nellie Bly: Girl Stunt Reporting in the Late Nineteenth Century America., Nellie Bly PBS: American Experience, Accessed 23 March 23, 2017, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/world/peopleevents/pande01.html. [11], As a writer, Nellie Bly focused her early work for the Pittsburgh Dispatch on the lives of working women, writing a series of investigative articles on women factory workers. She only attended one year of boarding school, because the financial burden placed on the family following her father's death forced her to quit school. History 101: Nellie Bly. Bly suffered a tragic loss in 1870, at the age of six, when her father died suddenly. Her fathers death when she was quite young had left the Cochran family with meagre means. [11], In 1885, a column in the Pittsburgh Dispatch titled "What Girls Are Good For" stated that girls were principally for birthing children and keeping house. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Nellie Bly, Birth Year: 1864, Birth date: May 5, 1864, Birth State: Pennsylvania, Birth City: Cochran's Mills, Birth Country: United States. She also interviewed influential and controversial figures, including Emma Goldman in 1893. [67], A fictionalized account of Bly's around-the-world trip was used in the 2010 comic book Julie Walker Is The Phantom published by Moonstone Books (Story: Elizabeth Massie, art: Paul Daly, colors: Stephen Downer). She challenged the stereotypical assumption that women could not travel without many suitcases, outfit changes, and vanity items. Nellie Bly was born on May 5, 1864 (age 57) in Burrell, Pennsylvania, United States She is a celebrity journalist 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. The reporter known as Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania, where her father was a mill owner and county judge. Michael Cochran began his career in the mills outside Pittsburgh, until he was able to earn enough to buy the mill. Her straightforward yet compassionate approach to these issues captivated audiences. In 1889, the paper sent her on a trip around the world in a record-setting 72 days. Her report was compiled into a book, Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887), and led to lasting institutional reforms. One of the protagonist's adventures in the 2003 film "The Adventures of Ociee Nash" is meeting Nellie Bly (Donna Wright) on a train. Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania (now Burrell Township), and during her youth, she had the nickname, "Pinky" (wore pink a lot). She started a new trend in reporting that earned her recognition as an undercover reporter. In 1911, she returned to journalism as a reporter for the New York Evening Journal. Led by New York Assistant District Attorney Vernon M. Davis, with Bly assisting, the asylum investigation resulted in significant changes in New York City's Department of Public Charities and Corrections (later split into separate agencies). "Pink," as she was known in childhood, was the youngest of 13 (or 15, according . How many siblings did James Meredith have? 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]. For ten days Elizabeth experienced the physical and mental abuses suffered by patients. She began working for the New York Evening Journal in 1920 and reported on numerous events, including the growing womens suffrage movement. To escape writing about womens issues on the society page, Elizabeth volunteered to travel to Mexico. 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. Ultimately, the costs of these benefits began to mount and drain her inheritance. He had 10 children with his first wife, Catherine Murphy, and 5 more children, including Elizabeth Cochran his thirteenth daughter, with his second wife, Mary Jane Kennedy. 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. After the company suffered losses from embezzlement, Bly returned to journalism and reported from Europe during World War I. For the same, she feigned insanity to get into the asylum and have a first-hand experience of the treatment meted out to patients. Elizabeths boss did not want to anger Pittsburghs elite and quickly reassigned her as a society columnist. Bly's future began to look brighter in the early 1880s, when, at the age of 18, she submitted a racy response to an editorial piece that had been published in the Pittsburgh Dispatch. [38], Bly wrote stories on Europe's Eastern Front during World War I. 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. She was a pioneer in investigative journalism. How many siblings did Molly Pitcher have? The piece shed light on a number of disturbing conditions at the facility, including neglect and physical abuse, and, along with spawning her book on the subject, ultimately spurred a large-scale investigation of the institution. When Bly was six, her father died suddenly and without a will. ACTIVISM AND SOCIAL CHANGE; AMERICAN IDENTITY AND CITIZENSHIP, Major support for Women & the American Story provided by, Lead support for New-York Historicals teacher programs provided by. Does Nellie have any. Lib. Elizabeth hoped the massive newspaper industry of New York City would be more open-minded to a female journalist and left Pittsburgh. How many siblings did Emmeline Pankhurst have? Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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 it, she argued for reform of divorce laws. 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. From France she went to Italy and Egypt, through South Asia to Singapore and Japan, then to San Francisco and back to New York. [4][5][6] Her father, Michael Cochran, born about 1810, started out as a laborer and mill worker before buying the local mill and most of the land surrounding his family farmhouse. Smithsonian Institute Archives Image # SIA 2010-1509. Unknown photographer, A Typical Boomer Family, ca. She also prioritized the welfare of the employees, providing health care benefits and recreational facilities. Early in life, she was compelled to speak truth to power when she testified on her mother's behalf against an abusive stepfather. Between 1889 and 1895, Nellie Bly also penned twelve novels for The New York Family Story Paper. There have been claims that Bly invented the barrel,[35] but the inventor was registered as Henry Wehrhahn (U.S. 2022. Nellie was born on May 5, 1864 in a city called Cochran's Millis in the United States. . How many siblings did Sophie Germain have? Nellie Bly was never one to sit idle while the world rushed by. In 1895, Bly married millionaire manufacturer Robert Seaman. Those words, describing New York City's most notorious mental institution, were written by journalist Nellie Bly in 1887. Her father, Michael Cochran, owned a lucrative mill and served as associate justice of Armstrong County. In 1887, Bly stormed into the office of the New York World, one of the leading newspapers in the country. Best Known For: 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. How many brothers and sisters did Harriet Tubman have? Elizabeth Jane Cochran, a.k.a. She also interviewed and wrote pieces on several prominent figures of the time, including Emma Goldman and Susan B. Anthony. 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. By Barbara Maranzani Updated: Nov 12, 2020. The majority of her writings were literary works. She told him about her plans to travel alone by train and ship around the world. In her first act of stunt journalism for the World, Elizabeth pretended to be mentally ill and arranged to be a patient at New Yorks insane asylum for the poor, Blackwells Island. 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. The show ran for 16 performances. How many children did Anne Hutchinson have? Jarena Lee, 1849. [citation needed] The character of Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) in American Horror Story: Asylum is inspired by Bly's experience in the asylum. How many sisters did Charles Dickens have? She regularly sent articles reporting about the lives and customs of Mexican people which were later published as a book titled, Six Months in Mexico. As she became a teenager, she wanted to portray herself as more sophisticated, and she dropped the nickname and changed her surname to "Cochrane". [66] David Blixt also appeared on a March 10, 2021 episode of the podcast Broads You Should Know as a Nellie Bly expert. [41], In 1998, Bly was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Chien-shiung Wu (1912-1997), professor of physics at Columbia University, 1963. How many brothers and sisters did Jimmy Carter have? Following her marriage, she retired from journalism and became the president of her husband's Iron Clad Manufacturing Company. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. As one of few women and Asian musicians in the jazz world, Akiyoshi infused Japanese culture, sounds, and instruments into her music. Born Elizabeth Jane Cochran, Nellie Bly was famed for pioneering new investigative journalism when she worked as an undercover journalist in New York's most notorious mental institution. 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. Madden immediately offered her a job as a columnist. [22], Committed to the asylum, Bly experienced the deplorable conditions firsthand. Nellie Bly, pseudonym of Elizabeth Cochrane, also spelled Cochran, (born May 5, 1864, Cochrans Mills, Pennsylvania, U.S.died January 27, 1922, New York, New York), American journalist whose around-the-world race against a fictional record brought her world renown. [56], Bly was also a subject of Season 2 Episode 5 of The West Wing in which First Lady Abbey Bartlet dedicates a memorial in Pennsylvania in honor of Nellie Bly and convinces the president to mention her and other female historic figures during his weekly radio address. She married millionaire Robert Seaman in 1895, but after his death she suffered financial reverses, and she returned to newspaper work on the New York Journal in 1920. Gertrude Kasebier, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. 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. How many siblings did Sybil Ludington have? One of her first undertakings for that paper was to get herself committed to the asylum on Blackwells (now Roosevelt) Island by feigning insanity. She was satisfied to know that her work led to change. Nellie Bly was a journalist at a time when there were very few women in the workforce. Oil on canvas. Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. Nellie Bly Wikipedia. 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. Elizabeth positioned herself as an investigative reporter. Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story: Directed by Karen Moncrieff. It was no mere armchair observation, because Bly got herself committed . Her work, which was later reprinted as a book titled Ten Days in a Mad House spurred a large-scale investigation of the institution as well as the much-needed improvements in health care. 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 . [2], Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born May 5, 1864,[3] in "Cochran's Mills", now part of Burrell Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Nellie Bly tied the nuptial knot in 1895 with the millionaire manufacturer Robert Seaman. [1] She was a pioneer in her field and launched a new kind of investigative journalism. She had several siblings and half-siblings. 1893-1894. Between 1889 and 1895 she wrote eleven novels. Shop eBooks and audiobooks at Rakuten Kobo. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. When Bly was six, her father died suddenly and without a will. The World built up the story by running daily articles and a guessing contest in which whoever came nearest to naming Cochranes time in circling the globe would get a trip to Europe. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! How many siblings does Katherine Johnson have? Bly looked for work to help support her family, but found fewer opportunities than her less-educated brothers. How many siblings did Elizabeth Blackwell have? NASA on The Commons, via flickr, Home / Modernizing America, 1889-1920 / Modern Womanhood / Life Story: Nellie Bly. 1985.212. When Bly was six, her father died suddenly and without a will. [36], Bly was, however, an inventor in her own right, receiving U.S. Patent 697,553 for a novel milk can and U.S. Patent 703,711 for a stacking garbage can, both under her married name of Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman. June 7, 1999. The editor was so impressed with her writing that he gave her a job. Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book by American journalist Nellie Bly. She was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City. At New York, she soon found herself a job at Joseph Pulitzers newspaper, New York World. One of her early assignments was to investigate reports of brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. How many siblings did St. Catherine of Siena have? Her reporting introduced readers to the horrors of insane asylums and to international travel. [11], Burdened again with theater and arts reporting, Bly left the Pittsburgh Dispatch in 1887 for New York City. Search results for "The Babysitter Chronicles" at Rakuten Kobo. Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee: giving an account of her call to preach the gospel, frontispiece. The town was founded by her father, Michael Cochran, who provided for his family by working as a judge and landowner. In this lesson, students will experience the tragedy of the commons through a team activity in which they compete for resources. [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. Amid their grief, Michael's death presented a grave financial detriment to his family, as he left them without a will, and, thus, no legal claim to his estate. Popularly known by her pen name Nellie Bly, Elizabeth Cochran was an American journalist and writer who was a pioneer in the field of investigative journalism. Ten Days in the Madhouse. Faced with such dwindling finances, Bly consequently re-entered the newspaper industry. Her trip only took 72 days, which set a world record. Unscrupulous employees bilked the firm of hundreds of thousands of dollars, troubles compounded by protracted and costly bankruptcy litigation. For a time, she was one of the leading women industrialists in the United States. [20], In 1893, Bly used the celebrity status she had gained from her asylum reporting skills to schedule an exclusive interview with the allegedly insane serial killer Lizzie Halliday.[25].