Nellie Bly (1864-1922) was famous for her daring stunts, her determination to get a good story, and — maybe most famously — for traveling around the world in under 80 days.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today, we’re talking about a woman who pioneered the field of investigative journalism. She was famous for her daring stunts, her determination to get a good story, and — maybe most famously — for traveling around the world in under 80 days. Let’s talk about Nellie Bly.
Nellie was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5th, 1864. She was one of 5 children born to her parents, though her father, Michael, had an additional 10 kids from his previous marriage. Elizabeth spent the first years of her life in a small town in Pennsylvania called Cochran. Her father founded the town, owned a lucrative mill in the area, and also worked as a judge and landowner.
These early, idyllic years were cut short by Michael’s sudden death in 1870. He left the family without a will or a way to maintain their land. Elizabeth was just six years old at the time, and the rest of her youth was spent in financial duress. She attended school to become a teacher, but dropped out when the family finances stretched too thin.
While working at her mother’s boarding house in Pittsburgh, Elizabeth came across an article in the Pittsburgh Dispatch called “What Girls Are Good For.” In it, the author attested that women were best for domestic duties and childbearing, and called the working woman a “monstrosity.” Elizabeth disagreed.
She penned an open letter to the editor contradicting the article. Not only did the editor publish Elizabeth’s piece, he answered it in print, and offered her a job.
At the age of 18, Elizabeth became a columnist at the Dispatch. She adopted a pen name, as many women journalists did at the time. Thus the name “Nellie Bly” was born.
At The Dispatch, Nellie was assigned to write on women’s issues. Early on, she went beyond the typical work of a columnist to report undercover. a She published a series of articles on the conditions of women working in sweatshops while posing as a worker herself. But after the stories were published, grabbing headlines, the factory complained to the Dispatch, and Nellie was relegated to the office.
By 1886, Nellie wanted to sink her teeth into bigger stories, so she headed to New York City.
In New York, Nellie found few newspapers willing to hire a woman journalist. In 1887, she found her way to the office of the New York World, one of the biggest newspapers in the country. She was given a challenge: if she could write a piece on Blackwell Island, a notorious mental hospital in New York, she’d have a job.
Nellie relished the opportunity. She went undercover, gaining access to the institution as a patient, and spent 10 days collecting information. She wrote candidly about the disturbing conditions she found inside Blackwell and published it in a 6-part series called “Ten Days in a Mad-House.”
The articles were a success. They established Nellie as an important journalist, and they also spurred efforts to reform New York’s mental health institutions. Eventually, the city would conduct a large scale investigation into Blackwell and allocate better funds and more stringent guidelines to medical facilities.
Nellie continued her investigative work, taking on stories about New York jails, factories, and corruption in-state legislature.
Then in 1889, Nellie decided to take a trip around the world in 80 days. She pitched the idea as a chance to make the popular Jules Verne novel a reality for the first time. She departed from Hoboken, New Jersey, with just her dress, an overcoat, a purse of essential toiletries, and a bag of money around her neck.
The trip gained popular media attention, even inspiring rival racers from other publications. While she traveled, Nellie sent progress reports on her adventures.
Nellie returned in a record 72 days. She only held the record for a few months, but the media storm that followed her circumnavigating the globe had established her legacy as an intrepid reporter.
In 1895, Nellie retired from journalism and married millionaire Robert Seamen. He was 40 years her senior. When he died in 1903, he left in her control of a very large oil manufacturing company. Nellie took over the business and even patented some inventions, including the the 55-gallon steel oil drum, that are used today in the oil industry. Nellie also put many of the reforms she’d written about into action and made sure employees had access to recreational facilities and healthcare.
In the 1910s, Nellie returned to journalism, mainly covering World War I and the women’s suffrage movement. She wrote in favor of the women fighting for the vote, infamously titling her report of the Women’s Suffrage Procession in 1913, “Suffragists Are Men’s Superiors.”
On January 27, 1922, Nellie died from pneumonia. She was 57 years old.
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Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!