How many siblings did Wilma Rudolph have? Before becoming an investigative journalist and travelling around the world in 72 days,. How many siblings did Catherine of Aragon have? Franois (Franz) Fleischbein (artist), Portrait of Betsy, 1837. 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. In 1885, Bly began working as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch at a rate of $5 per week. She also prioritized the welfare of the employees, providing health care benefits and recreational facilities. In 1887, Bly stormed into the office of the, Blys six-part series on her experience in the asylum was called. How many siblings did Emmeline Pankhurst 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. [22], Committed to the asylum, Bly experienced the deplorable conditions firsthand. 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. Early in life, she was compelled to speak truth to power when she testified on her mother's behalf against an abusive stepfather. Nellie Bly was born as Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mills, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, to a mill worker Michael Cochran and his wife Mary Jane. But Bly held the record for only a few months before it was broken by businessman George Francis Train who completed the journey in 67 days. However, after his death, the family . A number of positive changes were made after the release of the book. She was inducted as a part of the expert team launched to better the conditions prevailing at the asylum. 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. She is often confused with the journalist Nellie Bly (1864-1922). In 2015, director Timothy Hines released 10 Days in a Madhouse, which also depicts Bly's harrowing experience in the asylum. Seaman died in 1904. Now Nellie Bly is getting her due. The Washington Post. Shop eBooks and audiobooks at Rakuten Kobo. In a tribute after her death, the acclaimed newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane remembered Bly as the best reporter in America., Kroeger, Brooke. Nellie Bly, was one of fourteen siblings growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Smithsonian Institute Archives Image # SIA 2010-1509. Her reporting introduced readers to the horrors of insane asylums and to international travel. On January 25, 1890, the world waited for a young reporter named Nellie Bly to arrive back home. Cochran's Mills, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Burrell Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story, An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster, "She went undercover to expose an insane asylum's horrors. 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. History 101: Nellie Bly. 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. Unable to maintain the land or their house, Bly's family left Cochran's Mill. How many siblings did Mary Todd Lincoln have? How many children did Catherine Parr have? Nellie Bly was ousted from Mexico after she ran a series of articles criticizing the Mexican dictator and ruler, Porfirio Diaz. Life Story: Elizabeth Cochrane, aka Nellie Bly (1864-1922), Women & The American Story, New-York Historical Society Library and Museum. [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 later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. Seaman died in 1904, and Bly took over his firm, the Iron Clad Manufacturing Company. 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. 1893-1894. All rights reserved. Second, she wanted to prove that women were capable of traveling just as well asif not better thanmen. On train, ship, rickshaw, horse, and donkey . It was one of the few things that helped set her apart from her 14 siblings. Her report was compiled into a book, Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887), and led to lasting institutional reforms. She was the daughter of Michael Cochran and Mary Jane Kennedy Cochran (second wife). The marriage was the second one for both Michael and Bly's mother, Mary Jane, who wed after the deaths of their first spouses. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. The editor, Joseph Pulitzer, declined that story, but he challenged Bly to investigate one of New Yorks most notorious mental asylums, Blackwells Island. American investigative journalist (18641922), Elizabeth Cochran, "Nellie Bly," aged about 26. In response to an article in the. 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. 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. At 15, Bly enrolled at the State Normal School in Indiana, Pennsylvania. no. 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. As she became a teenager, she wanted to portray herself as more sophisticated, and she dropped the nickname and changed her surname to "Cochrane". How many sisters did Susan B. Anthony have? The show ran for 16 performances. 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. "[22] She refused to go to bed and eventually scared so many of the other boarders that the police were called to take her to the nearby courthouse. Updates? Nellie Bly was a nationally significant journalist at the New York World. How many siblings does Katherine Johnson have? 1985.212. 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). How many siblings did Mary McLeod Bethune have. 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. Abigail Adams was an early advocate for women's rights. Nellie Bly had 14 siblings (10 half-siblings; 4 full blooded siblings). There were nearly one million entries in the contest. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division Washington, D.C. McLoughlin Bros., Round the World with Nellie Bly, 1890. [69], The board game Round the World with Nellie Bly created in 1890 is named in recognition of her trip. Nellie Bly's stint in the facility wasn't necessarily how she envisioned making a name for herself. 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. [2], Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born May 5, 1864,[3] in "Cochran's Mills", now part of Burrell Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. A misogynistic column in the daily, The Pittsburgh Dispatch, prompted her to pen a fiery rebuttal to the editor under the pseudonym Lonely Orphan Girl. Such was the impression of her writing that it won her a full-time employment with the newspaper. 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. She went undercover to expose an insane asylums horrors. Elizabeth too began writing under the pen name Nellie Bly after the Stephen Foster song. How many siblings did James Meredith have? Quick Quiz: Around The World With Nellie Bly. Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. With Caroline Barry, Christopher Lambert, Kelly LeBrock, Julia Chantrey. Unable to maintain the land or their house, Bly's family left Cochran's Mill. Male 4 November 1848-29 June 1903 LHVT-N79. Full_Name: Elizabeth Jane Cochran. Unknown photographer, A Typical Boomer Family, ca. [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. Michael had 10 children with his first wife and five more with Mary Jane, who had no prior children. How many children did Anne Hutchinson have? In early 2019, Lifetime released a thriller based on Bly's experience as an undercover reporter in a women's mental ward. Born in 1864, Bly was the thirteenth of 15 children in a family headed by Michael Cochran, a mill owner and county judge. Unidentified African American woman in uniform, 1861. Returning to Pittsburgh, she temporarily continued working for The Pittsburgh Dispatch before leaving for New York City in 1887. Activist journalists like Elizabethcommonly known as muckrakerswere an important part of reform movements. How many siblings did Mary Livermore have? Journalist Nellie Bly began writing for the Pittsburgh Dispatch in 1885. How many siblings does Bessie Coleman have? [45] The winning proposal, The Girl Puzzle by Amanda Matthews, was announced on October 16, 2019. 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. She was far and away the best-known woman journalist of her day. Those words, describing New York City's most notorious mental institution, were written by journalist Nellie Bly in 1887. The high point of Cochranes career at the World began on November 14, 1889, when she sailed from New York to beat the record of Phileas Fogg, hero of Jules Vernes romance Around the World in Eighty Days.