Nellie Bly Lesson for Kids: Biography & Facts. [48], Bly was the subject of the 1946 Broadway musical Nellie Bly by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen. 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. Michael married twice. The Sibling Society The Sibling Society Reconsidering the Siblings, a Critical Study of Robert Bly's The Sibling Society The Sibling Society Mirabai Iron John Leaping Poetry A Little Book on the Human Shadow Morning Poems The Teeth-Mother Naked at Last Growing Yourself Back Up Talking Into the . One of her first undertakings for that paper was to get herself committed to the asylum on Blackwells (now Roosevelt) Island by feigning insanity. [34] Due to her husband's failing health, she left journalism and succeeded her husband as head of the Iron Clad Manufacturing Co., which made steel containers such as milk cans and boilers. In 1895, Bly married millionaire manufacturer Robert Seaman. Before becoming an investigative journalist and travelling around the world in 72 days,. Upon her husbands death in 1904, Bly took the helm of his Iron Clad Manufacturing Co. During her time there, she began manufacturing the first practical 55-gallon steel oil drum, which evolved into the standard one used today. 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. 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. Her first articles, on conditions among working girls in Pittsburgh, slum life, and other similar topics, marked her as a reporter of ingenuity and concern. 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. Abigail Adams was an early advocate for women's rights. How many siblings did Patricia Bath have? Blys literary success proliferated when she turned the fictional tale of Jules Vernes 1873 novel Around the World in Eighty Days, into reality. Once examined by a police officer, a judge, and a doctor, Bly was taken to Blackwell's Island. [28] Bly's journey was a world record, though it only stood for a few months, until George Francis Train completed the journey in 67 days.[31]. 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. Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania. 2022. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nellie-bly. Her father had ten children from his first marriage and five children from his second marriage to Elizabeths mother, Mary Jane Kennedy. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Who Is Dilbert Cartoonist Scott Adams? 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 was born on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mills, Pennsylvania. The town was founded by her father, Judge Michael Cochran. How many siblings did Coretta Scott King have? Between 1889 and 1895, Nellie Bly also penned twelve novels for The New York Family Story Paper. Nellie Bly was a journalist at a time when there were very few women in the workforce. Robert was a millionaire who owned the Iron Clad Manufacturing Company and the American Steel Barrel Company. Nellie Bly (U.S. National Park Service) From France she went to Italy and Egypt, through South Asia to Singapore and Japan, then to San Francisco and back to New York. What does that mean, and how did her writing contribute to reform efforts on a variety of issues? How many siblings did Eleanor Roosevelt have? During World War I, she traveled to Europe as the first woman to report from the trenches on the front line. She left the newspaper industry after her marriage to serve as the president of her husbands company, Iron Clad Manufacturing Co. As a social reformer she gave over-the-top perks to her employees but the scheme cost the company so dearly that it went bankrupt. American investigative journalist (18641922), Elizabeth Cochran, "Nellie Bly," aged about 26. 2022. Her image was used on everything from playing cards to board games. Elizabeth is often described as a muckraker. 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. 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. The New York World published daily updates on her journey and the entire country followed her story. 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. 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. What might she have been able to do that men could not? In business, her curiosity and independent spirit flourished. Ten Little-Known Facts about Nellie Bly - Tonya Mitchell Before becoming an investigative journalist and travelling around the world in 72 days, Nellie Bly had a childhood. Though New York World continuously covered her travel diaries, it was later in 1890 that Bly published a book about the experience, titling it Around the World in 72 Days. Nellie Bly was born on May 5, 1864 in Cochran Mill, Pennsylvania. Toshiko Akiyoshi changed the face of jazz music over her sixty-year career. 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 . no. Unfortunately, Bly did not manage the finances well and fell victim to fraud by employees that led the firm to declare bankruptcy. What was nellie blys favorite color? [21], It was not easy for Bly to be admitted to the Asylum: she first decided to check herself into a boarding house called "Temporary Homes for Females". In business, her curiosity and independent spirit flourished. How many brothers and sisters did Harriet Tubman have? https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/nellie-bly-9296.php. How many siblings did Sojourner Truth have? She had several siblings and half-siblings. Between 1889 and 1895 she wrote eleven novels. Nellie Bly was never one to sit idle while the world rushed by. Biography: You Need to Know: Agness Underwood. Nellie Bly: The Journalist Who Pretended To Be Insane To Get Into A Nellie Bly - Wikipedia Michael Cochran began his career in the mills outside Pittsburgh, until he was able to earn enough to buy the mill. In 1904, when her husband died, Bly took over the reign of the company. Her straightforward yet compassionate approach to these issues captivated audiences. During her travels around the world, she went through England, France, Brindisi, the Suez Canal, Colombo, the Straits Settlements of Penang and Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. How many siblings did Frances Hodgson Burnett have? How many siblings did Elizabeth Cady Stanton have? How many children did Anne Hutchinson have? How many siblings did Emily Dickinson 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. And much of this has to do with her firsthand account of life in an insane asylum. In 1880, the family moved to Pittsburgh where Elizabeth supported her single mother by running a boarding house. How many sisters did Charles Dickens have? The evening world. 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. Pace, Lawson. Bly looked for work to help support her family, but found fewer opportunities than her less-educated brothers. While in charge of the company, Bly put her social reforms into action and Iron Clad employees enjoyed several perks unheard of at the time, including fitness gyms, libraries and healthcare. Does Nellie have any. In the piece, writer Erasmus Wilson (known to Dispatch readers as the "Quiet Observer," or Q.O.) 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". After the company suffered losses from embezzlement, Bly returned to journalism and reported from Europe during World War I. She published her articles in a book titled 10 Days in A Mad House. Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. [10] In 1880, Cochrane's mother moved her family to Allegheny City, which was later annexed by the City of Pittsburgh. Life Story: Nellie Bly - Women & the American Story Unidentified African American woman in uniform, 1861. Remembering Nellie Bly, Rabblerouser and Pioneer of Investigative How many siblings did Louisa May Alcott have? 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 57 years old. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division Washington, D.C. McLoughlin Bros., Round the World with Nellie Bly, 1890. How many siblings did Catherine of Aragon have? On May 5, 2015, the Google search engine produced an interactive "Google Doodle" for Bly; for the "Google Doodle" Karen O wrote, composed, and recorded an original song about Bly, and Katy Wu created an animation set to Karen O's music. Her honest reporting about the horrors of workers lives attracted negative attention from local factory owners. "[18] She then traveled to Mexico to serve as a foreign correspondent, spending nearly half a year reporting on the lives and customs of the Mexican people; her dispatches later were published in book form as Six Months in Mexico. Cihak and Zima (photographer), Ida B. Wells-Barnett, ca. For ten days Elizabeth experienced the physical and mental abuses suffered by patients. Inside Nellie Bly's 10 Days in a Madhouse - Biography