Nellie Bly, born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in 1864, was a brave and tough-as-nails woman who would cause change for many industries in her 35 years of active journalism. Particularly in regards to the treatment of women, the way women were viewed, and reforms for the treatment of those who cannot always speak for themselves. She was a pioneer in journalism, an adventure-seeker, a business woman, champion of fair treatment for employees, and a fighter against sexism. She wore many hats, and she wore them well.
When she was 15 years old, Bly set off on her own, enrolling in the State Normal School in Indiana, Pennsylvania, with the goal of becoming a teacher. In order to sound more distinguished, she added an "e" to her last name, becoming Elizabeth Cochrane, but it didn't help her with her financial trouble. She was forced to return to her mother in Pittsburgh after only attending school for a year and a half, because she ran out of money, and struggled to find work. Her lucky break came in an unexpected way when, in 1885, she read an article in the Pittsburgh Dispatch arguing that a woman's place was in the home and their main role was to "be a helpmate to a man." This didn't sit well with young Elizabeth, so she penned an angry letter to the editor that outlined her disapproval and thoughts on this article and signed it as "Lonely Orphan Girl."
This letter was so well-written that the editor, George A. Madden, was thoroughly impressed; writing a note in the paper calling for the "Lonely Orphan Girl" to reveal her identity. Not one to back down, Elizabeth stormed into the Dispatch's office to introduce herself, receiving a job offer as a columnist for her trouble. It was from here on out that she would be known as Nellie Bly, a name she coined for herself after a popular song at the time. Just two years later, Bly would prove her worth as a journalist in a stunt that would create a new genre of journalism- investigative journalism. In the two years leading up to this stunt, however, Bly would cause trouble for the Dispatch that proved fatal to her career there.
Through her reporting on controversial topics like divorce and especially her undercover work at a factory, the paper lost funding from advertisers and Madden was too concerned about upsetting Pittsburgh's elite to let her continue her investigations. The report that was probably the nail in her coffin here was when she went undercover at a factory and exposed them for their unsafe working conditions, the poor wages their employees received, and the grueling hours they had to work. She was open and honest in her reporting on the terrible lives of workers imposed by their employer, and no one of "importance" was a fan of this negative publicity. So she was relegated to the society column where she was to write about women's mundane issues that wouldn't stir up any trouble. But stirring things up is a woman's "favorite" past time (you know, cuz cooking), so she couldn't sit idly by while there were still stories out there to sink her teeth into.
This caused her to jump at an opportunity to live abroad in Mexico for 6 months, inciting her love to travel I assume, where she would act as the international correspondent for the Dispatch. After she returned to the states, hopeful that her reporting would prove her worth and merit, she was again given society page duty. So she left for NYC in hopes that the city would be more open to a woman journalist, having more opportunities for her to write the kinds of stories she was interested in.
After getting turned down at multiple newspapers due to her gender, the New York World wound up taking a chance on her, hiring her and giving her a pretty big piece rather soon afterward. In1887, Bly feigned insanity as a way to get the inside scoop on the Blackwell Island insane asylum, an asylum that catered to the poorest of New York's mentally ill population. Here, Bly incurred physical and mental abuses for the 10 days she remained undercover and upon her reporting on it, New York City reformed the care for individuals with mental illnesses. This included significant changes being made to NYC's Department of Public Charities and Corrections, allocating a larger portion of funds to go towards caring for the mentally ill and patients at these asylums in NY, allowing for stronger supervision of nurses and other healthcare workers through more physician appointments for these individuals, and creating regulations that diminished over-crowding issues and fire hazards at the medical facilities in the area.
Thanks to this report, Bly was given a permanent position at the World where she would continue to push the envelope with her stories. This included uncovering the abuse suffered by women, especially innocent women, at the hands of male police officers. She had a fellow journalist accuse her of stealing, leading to her arrest and subsequently spending the night in jail. During her short time in the jail she experienced unruly inmates and someone spying on her as she undressed for a search. Also at this time, it was not a requirement that male and female prisoners were kept separate or for women police officers to search the women inmates. This changed after her report came out. Just two years after her stint at Blackwell Asylum, she would embark on her most well-known stunt; her 72-day trip around the world.
In 1889, Bly was off to show the world that women were capable of traveling just as well, if not better, than men. She packed light, challenging the stereotype that women needed multiple suitcases holding numerous outfit changes and vanity items within their overstuffed confines by only packing the dress she was wearing, a cape, and a small traveler's bag. Not only that, but she was also set on beating the fictional record set by Jules Verne in his story, Around the World in Eighty Days. Bly was met with fanfare in New Jersey in 1890 after completing her 72-day journey. She took this opportunity to tour the country as a lecturer and to recount her trip in her aptly named book, Around the World in Seventy-Two Days.
Also in 1889, Bly published an article entitled, "Nelly Bly Buys a Baby" an investigative report on the baby black market. She played a mother character looking to purchase a child, meeting with several women with whom she would ask about buying a baby from them. She uncovered details about the whole exchange where dealers would act as intermediaries for the mothers and buyers. These parties would sell the babies with no questions asked and, in fact, Bly did manage to adopt a baby for a measly 10 dollars that came with a note informing the buyer that they "may dispose of the said child in any manner." Disgusting.
From 1890-1895 Bly continued her work exposing corrupt politicians, caught an employment agency stealing from immigrants, interviewing influential and controversial figures, and other eyebrow-raising stories. However, after her marriage to millionaire Robert Livingston Seaman, Bly retired from writing. Seaman owned not one, but two multi-million dollar companies; the Iron Clad Manufacturing Company and The American Steel Barrel Company until his passing in 1904. At this point in time, the ever capable Bly took the reins and remained as the president of both for almost 10 years. During this time, and after all of her work exposing terrible practices, she used these companies as social experiments in treating employees well. She implemented physical fitness programs, health care, and libraries to teach her employees how to read. However, in 1911 she found herself turning back to journalism, acquiring a job as a reporter for the New York Evening Journal. Here she covered plenty of national news stories, many of which involving the subject of suffrage, where she was in her element. Bly wasn't shy about highlighting the importance of women's right issues, arguing the point that women are as capable as men, putting a spotlight on the negative consequences of sexist ideologies, and of course covering stories on women's suffrage including the 1913 Women's Suffrage Parade in 1913.
1914 saw the beginning of WWI and Bly's focused shifted to covering the war as she experienced it in Austria as the first woman to report from the front lines. She continued her efforts until the war concluded in 1918. After her return to NYC when the war was over, Bly opened an informal adoption agency where she offered to find homes for homeless children in a public piece published in the Journal. 1919's incident with the abandoned "Love O' Mike baby" and her resolution in finding its parents gained her moniker of "The Good Fairy."
Sadly, just three years later, Bly would succumb to pneumonia and pass away, leaving behind a myriad of accolades, achievements, reforms and moments to be proud of. She was a wonderful, head-strong woman who could not sit idly by as she witnessed the terrible and corrupt issues happening all around her.
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