How many siblings did Lucretia Garfield have? 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. [15] "Mad Marriages" was published under the byline of Nellie Bly, rather than "Lonely Orphan Girl". Madden immediately offered her a job as a columnist. How many siblings did Cleopatra VII have? In 1880, the family moved to Pittsburgh where Elizabeth supported her single mother by running a boarding house. On train, ship, rickshaw, horse, and donkey . She faced rejection after rejection as news editors would not consider hiring a woman. How many siblings did Zora Neale Hurston have? Born In: Cochrans Mills, Pennsylvania, United States. How many children did Abigail Adams have? 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/. Shortly after her first article was published, Elizabeth changed her pseudonym from Lonely Orphan Girl to Nellie Bly, after a popular song. [53] In 2019, the Center for Investigative Reporting released Nellie Bly Makes the News, a short animated biographical film. Nellie Bly was never one to sit idle while the world rushed by. 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. Elizabeth positioned herself as an investigative reporter. Elizabeth Cochran (she later added a final e to Cochran) received scant formal schooling. She also interviewed and wrote pieces on several prominent figures of the time, including Emma Goldman and Susan B. Anthony. copyright 2003-2023 Homework.Study.com. Corrections? Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center. She was six years old when her beloved father died without warning, and without a will, plunging his once wealthy and respected family into poverty and shame. A number of positive changes were made after the release of the book. She began working for the New York Evening Journal in 1920 and reported on numerous events, including the growing womens suffrage movement. 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. Elizabeth hoped the massive newspaper industry of New York City would be more open-minded to a female journalist and left Pittsburgh. [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. The editor, Joseph Pulitzer, declined that story, but he challenged Bly to investigate one of New Yorks most notorious mental asylums, Blackwells Island. [16] Cochrane originally intended that her pseudonym be "Nelly Bly", but her editor wrote "Nellie" by mistake, and the error stuck. Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mill, Pennsylvania. 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). 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. 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). 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. 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. Blys literary success proliferated when she turned the fictional tale of Jules Vernes 1873 novel Around the World in Eighty Days, into reality. Also around this time, she retired from journalism, and by all accounts, the couple enjoyed a happy marriage. She was far and away the best-known woman journalist of her day. Oil on canvas. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Chicago- Norwood, Arlisha and Mariana Brandman. "Pink," as she was known in childhood, was the youngest of 13 (or 15, according . When Robert died in 1904, Elizabeth briefly took over as president of his companies. Quick Quiz: Around The World With Nellie Bly. Thought lost, these novels were not collected in book form until their re-discovery in 2021.[75]. Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story: Directed by Karen Moncrieff. 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. But Bly was hopeless at understanding the financial aspects of her business and ultimately lost everything. How many siblings did St. Catherine of Siena have? Bernard, Karen. [14] It was customary for women who were newspaper writers at that time to use pen names. What does that mean, and how did her writing contribute to reform efforts on a variety of issues? Her world tour made her a celebrity. In 188687 she traveled for several months through Mexico, sending back reports on official corruption and the condition of the poor. How many children did Laura Ingalls Wilder have? Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania. She also prioritized the welfare of the employees, providing health care benefits and recreational facilities. Oportunidades Iguales Para Las Mujeres En El Trabajo y La Educaccion, Womens Strike for Equality, New York, Fifth Avenue, 1970, Eugene Gordon photograph collection, 1970-1990. A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams was on the frontline of the settlement house movement and was the first American woman to wina Nobel Peace Prize. She went undercover to expose an insane asylums horrors. 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. Similar reportorial gambits took her into sweatshops, jails, and the legislature (where she exposed bribery in the lobbyist system). However, after only a year and a half, Elizabeth ran out of money and could no longer afford the tuition. She was one of 15 children. Bly looked for work to help support her family, but found fewer opportunities than her less-educated brothers. When Bly was six, her father died suddenly and without a will. [15] In one report, she protested the imprisonment of a local journalist for criticizing the Mexican government, then a dictatorship under Porfirio Daz. In 2015, director Timothy Hines released 10 Days in a Madhouse, which also depicts Bly's harrowing experience in the asylum. National Women's History Museum. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! "On the species of Pamphobeteus Pocock, 1901 deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, with redescriptions of type material, the first record of P. grandis Bertani, Fukushima & Silva, 2008 from Peru, and the description of four new species". 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. 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. Unable to maintain the land or their house, Bly's family left Cochran's Mill. Nellie Bly embarked on her journey from Hoboken, New Jersey, travelling first by ship but later by other vehicles. Writing for a newspaper wasn't considered "ladylike," and a fake name provided a veil of respectability between writer and public. The evening world. She breathed her last on January 27, 1922 at St. Mark's Hospital in New York City due to pneumonia. (Bly's record was beaten in 1890 by George Francis Train, who finished the trip in 67 days.). 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. Her straightforward yet compassionate approach to these issues captivated audiences. Within her lifetime, Nellie Bly published three non-fiction books (compilations of her newspaper reportage) and one novel in book form. Lib. How many siblings did Emily Dickinson have? His farm, mill, and the surrounding area became known as "Cochran's Mill" (part of a suburb of Pittsburgh). How many sisters did Charles Dickens have? In 1887 Cochrane left Pittsburgh for New York City and went to work for Joseph Pulitzers New York World. Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book by American journalist Nellie Bly. After the company suffered losses from embezzlement, Bly returned to journalism and reported from Europe during World War I. "Bly, Nellie (1864-1922), reporter and manufacturer. How many siblings did Amy Carmichael have? How many siblings did Mother Teresa have? As one of few women and Asian musicians in the jazz world, Akiyoshi infused Japanese culture, sounds, and instruments into her music. How many siblings did Dorothy Vaughan have? There were nearly one million entries in the contest. She moved back to Pittsburgh to help her mother run a boarding house. How many siblings did Mary Todd Lincoln have? Those words, describing New York City's most notorious mental institution, were written by journalist Nellie Bly in 1887. 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. She also prioritized the welfare of the employees, providing health care benefits and recreational facilities. Bly suffered a tragic loss in 1870, at the age of six, when her father died suddenly. How many brothers and sisters did Theodore Roosevelt have? New-York Historical Society Library. When Cochrane introduced herself to the editor, he offered her the opportunity to write a piece for the newspaper, again under the pseudonym "Lonely Orphan Girl". How many brothers and sisters did Ella Baker have? http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html. One of her first undertakings for that paper was to get herself committed to the asylum on Blackwells (now Roosevelt) Island by feigning insanity. https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/learn/women-forging-way/nellie-bly-around-the-world, Ten Days in the Madhouse. A Celebration of Women Writers. 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. She was satisfied to know that her work led to change. 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. She was 57 years of age. As was the trend then, women writers wrote under pen names. Cihak and Zima (photographer), Ida B. Wells-Barnett, ca. She had several siblings and half-siblings. [8], As a young girl, Elizabeth often was called "Pinky" because she so frequently wore that color. 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. In 2020, it was awarded to Claudia Irizarry Aponte, of THE CITY. She became one the leading women industrialists in the US and was the inventor of a novel milk can and a stacking garbage can, holding the patents for both. How many siblings did Louisa May Alcott have? Patents 808,327 and 808,413). As she became a teenager, she wanted to portray herself as more sophisticated, and she dropped the nickname and changed her surname to "Cochrane". 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. There have been claims that Bly invented the barrel,[35] but the inventor was registered as Henry Wehrhahn (U.S. [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. Jarena Lee, 1849. She was inducted as a part of the expert team launched to better the conditions prevailing at the asylum. 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. She also covered major stories like the march of Jacob Coxeys Army on Washington, D.C. and the Pullman strike in Chicago, both of which were 1894 protests in favor of workers rights. When Elizabeth Cochran began in journalism in 1885, it was considered inappropriate for a woman to write under her own name. In 1904, when her husband died, Bly took over the reign of the company. 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. [74], Cover of the 1890 board game Round the World with Nellie Bly. Gertrude Kasebier (photographer), Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist, c. 1898. Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania. Her report on the horrifyingly conditions inside the asylum led to numerous reforms in the living condition of the mental patients. Cochrane rode on ships and trains, in rickshaws and sampans, on horses and burros. However, not long after beginning her courses there, financial constraints forced Bly to table her hopes for higher education. . Working for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, Bly gained national fame for her undercover work as a patient in a women's mental asylum in New York City. [10] In 1880, Cochrane's mother moved her family to Allegheny City, which was later annexed by the City of Pittsburgh. After her ten-days-in-a-madhouse stunt and her circumnavigation of the globefeats that would make her a household nameshe went on to do many other things. Michael Cochrans rise from mill worker to mill owner to judge meant his family lived very comfortably. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. [12][11][13] The editor, George Madden, was impressed with her passion and ran an advertisement asking the author to identify herself. Still only 21, she was determined "to do something no girl has done before. Blys husband died in 1903, leaving her in control of the massive Iron Clad Manufacturing Company and American Steel Barrel Company. A fireboat named Nellie Bly operated in Toronto, Canada, in the first decade of the 20th century. How many siblings did Martha Washington have? The editor was so impressed with her writing that he gave her a job. The editor chose "Nellie Bly", after the African-American title character in the popular song "Nelly Bly" by Stephen Foster. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/nellie-bly-9296.php. How many siblings did Elizabeth Blackwell 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. At a time when women reporters were generally restricted to womens page reporting, Bly covered wider issues beyond just gardening or lifestyle and concentrated on slum life and other important topics. [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. Her straightforward yet compassionate approach to these issues captivated audiences. The story of an investigative journalist who used her career to shed light on the horrors of urban life and break gender stereotypes. [66] David Blixt also appeared on a March 10, 2021 episode of the podcast Broads You Should Know as a Nellie Bly expert. Goodman, Matthew. Biography: You Need to Know: Agness Underwood. 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." ", Lutes, Jean Marie. Bly later enrolled at the Indiana Normal School, a small college in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where she studied to become a teacher. [49], During the 1990s, playwright Lynn Schrichte wrote and toured Did You Lie, Nellie Bly?, a one-woman show about Bly. 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. Nellie Bly was a nationally significant journalist at the New York World. How many siblings did Althea Gibson have? Nellie Bly Baker (September 7, 1893 - October 12, 1984) was an American actress active in the silent film era and early talkies, mostly playing minor roles. Gertrude Kasebier, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved. The park reopened in 2007[71] under new management, renamed "Adventurers Amusement Park". In it, she explores the country's people and customs, and even stumbles upon marijuana. Born in 1864, Bly was the thirteenth of 15 children in a family headed by Michael Cochran, a mill owner and county judge. A year later, at 9:40a.m. on November 14, 1889, and with two days' notice,[27][clarification needed] she boarded the Augusta Victoria, a steamer of the Hamburg America Line,[28] and began her 40,070 kilometer journey. However, Bly became increasingly limited in her work at the Pittsburgh Dispatch after her editors moved her to its women's page, and she aspired to find a more meaningful career. She went undercover at a factory where she experienced unsafe working conditions, poor wages, and long hours. Collection of the New-York Historical Society. 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. Elizabeths writing career started abruptly and unintentionally. How many siblings did Frances Hodgson Burnett have? [39] Bly was the first woman and one of the first foreigners to visit the war zone between Serbia and Austria. Kroeger, Brooke. Elizabeth knew that she would need to support herself financially. Answer and Explanation: Nellie Bly had 14 siblings (10 half-siblings; 4 full blooded siblings). How many siblings did Deborah Sampson have? The story of Nellie Bly, a female journalist who willingly got herself admitted to an insane asylum in 1890s New York so she could write about the experience and expose the injustices. Elizabeth Jane Cochran, a.k.a. In 1889, the paper sent her on a trip around the world in a record-setting 72 days. How many siblings did Wilma Rudolph have? The New York World published daily updates on her journey and the entire country followed her story. 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. When Bly was six, her father died suddenly and without a will. However, he also misspelled the name, and she became Nellie Bly.. The New York World completely supported her ambitious feat. In 1885, Bly began working as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch at a rate of $5 per week. Nellie Bly was a journalist at a time when there were very few women in the workforce. Bly switched back to reporting, later on writing stories on Europe's Eastern Front during World War I and the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913. 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. 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. During her early journalism career, Bly wrote Six Months in Mexico (1888), which describes her time as a foreign correspondent in Mexico in 1885. How many siblings did Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton have? Once examined by a police officer, a judge, and a doctor, Bly was taken to Blackwell's Island. Feb. 1, 2000; Accessed April 27, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1601472. Bly not only accepted the challenge, she decided to feign mental illness to gain admission and expose firsthand how patients were treated. episode "Jack's Back". How many siblings did Molly Pitcher have? [48], Bly was the subject of the 1946 Broadway musical Nellie Bly by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen. Alternate titles: Elizabeth Cochran, Elizabeth Cochrane. Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. [38], Bly wrote stories on Europe's Eastern Front during World War I. [26] She was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City. How many siblings did Queen Victoria have? claimed that women were best served by conducting domestic duties and called the working woman "a monstrosity." "[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. Journalist Nellie Bly began writing for the Pittsburgh Dispatch in 1885. Michael married twice. [33] Bly was 31 and Seaman was 73 when they married. 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. The marriage was the second one for both Michael and Bly's mother, Mary Jane, who wed after the deaths of their first spouses. 1. How many siblings did Benazir Bhutto have? 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. 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. She was a pioneer in investigative journalism. (New York, N.Y.), 14 Nov. 1889. Elizabeth is often described as a muckraker. [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. How many siblings does Katherine Johnson have? Print Page Nellie Bly Nellie Bly, c. 1890. It shed light on the disturbing living condition of patients, the neglect on part of the authorities and the physical abuse meted out to patients. She completed circumnavigating the world in just 72 days and recorded her travel experiences in a book titled Around the World in 72 Days. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. 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. Elizabeth had fourteen siblings. Her mother remarried but divorced in 1878 due to abuse. She was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City. Blys successful career reached new heights in 1889 when she decided to travel around the world after reading the popular book by Jules Verne, Around the World in 80 Days. 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.
