Nellie+Bly

**__Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Jane Cochran)\__**

(May 5th, 1864 - January 27, 1922)
Elizabeth Cochran, who mostly went by her pen name Nellie Bly, was a special kind of investigative journalist. A stunt journalist or when an indivual immerses themselves into a situation to get a more in depth perspective into the events going on. She was most famous for her record breaking stunt of traveling around the world in 75 days and her report on the Women's Lunatic Assylum on Blackwell's Island, New York where she commited herself to get the whole story.

=**__﻿Early Life__**=

Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born on May 5th, 1864 in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania. Her mother was Mary Jane Cummings, a widow with no children. Her father, also a widow, was Michael Cochran. He had ten children from his previous marriage and Mary and him had had two boys before Nellie was born. As a child she was always dressed in pink, while the other girls wore black, brown and gray, these pink outfits granted her the name of Pink or Pinkey. When Pink was six her father contracted an illness which paralyzed him and soon caused his death. Her father had not made out a will, in this time a widow could not inherit the estate, so pink and her family were left with nothing except a trust left for the children, not to be accessed until they were older. This left Mary with no money, no house and no job, she had no other choice than to marry. In January 1873, Pink's mother remarried to a civil war veteran by the name of John Jackson Ford when Pink was eight. Soon the family would find out that John was often unemployed, drank a lot and was very violent. Mary soon filed for divorce which was very rare in the 1800's. The divorce was finalized in 1878, Pink had to testify on her mother's behalf during the trial, she was fourteen. Pink did not have many options, she no longer trusted marriage and wanted to work for herself. Not many jobs were open to a women, but of the few Pink decided to become a teacher. At fifteen, she took some money out of her trust to attend Indiana State Normal School in Indiana, Pennsylvania. She was forced to drop out after only one semester because she had no money left in her account. So, Pink picked up her things and she and her mother left for Pittsburgh, following her two older brothers to find a better life.

=__**Early Career**__= After arriving in Pittsburgh she worked for five years in her mothers boarding house while searching for a job. She raced up and down Park Row, the street housing every newspaper in Pittsburgh with no luck. One day she was reading the paper and saw a sexist article by a writter in The Dispatch who went by Q.O. or Quiet Observer. She wrote back to the journalist with a gutsy and opinion filled response to the story, signed Lonely Orpahn Girl. It was not long until George Madison, managing editor of the dispatch, saw the opinionated letter and immediatly sent out an ad in the paper asking Lonely Orphan Girl to come forward. The next day she came forward an Madden offered her a job instantly. She started out writing about what she really cared about, social issues. She started work on an expose of what factory women do after work. Unfortunalty, after a few successful articles she was asssigned to write on fashion because her articles were so risque that advertisers threatened to pull out. So she assigned herself something interesting, shortly after she and her mother would be going to Mexico. Once Nellie arrived she was instantly amazed by the culture and started writing right away. She sent weekly letters back and they were published in The Dispatch. They became a favorite of many reader's nation wide. When Nellie got back in 1887 she moved to New York City to prevent getting stuck on the ladies page ever again. She looked for six months for a job, until she found The World.

=__ The Women's Asylum on Blackwell's Island__=

One day, she was in the right place at the right time when John Cockerill of The World asked her to do a brand new type of journalism, stunt journalism. Her task was to pretend to be insane and get an inside look at the most terrifying of all asylums, The Women's Asylum on Blackwell's Island in New York. It was packed with immigrant women, most of which were put there because they couldn't speak English, who were crazy or insane. After weeks of practicing her moans and crazy talk, she got herself a room at a boarding house. Later in the night she started ranting at nothing in particular causing the Landlady to phone the police immediately. She went to police court the next day and seemed so lost that the Judge called for all newspapers to place an ad looking for her family. All newspapers printed the ad except The Dispatch. After no response to the ad's she was said to have dementia and sent to the Asylum. Her revealing and detailed expose told of the horrible conditions of the building. The dark rooms and walls, the everyday ice cold baths, punishment threats and dead silence in the insane hall (picture to the left) where the women would have to sit and not move while staring at the wall. Her most horrific account was her experience while sitting in her room. She listened to the screams of a women who was being bathed in freezing water and then beat to death by the attendants at the Asylum. She spent ten days at the Asylum before she was rescued by her publishers. Newspapers across the country printed her story including The Dispatch. Of course, the doctors denied all accusations but the government believed her and funding went to the Asylum to improve conditions and Nellie wrote a book depicting her experiences. This was one of the first stories of investigative journalism, and what put Nellie Bly on the map as a pioneer in the industry.

=__**﻿Around the World in 72 Days**__= Her investigation into the assylum boosted the sales of the newspaper that she was asked to become a hired writer, she of course said yes. Her next big exploration was more of a goal. In 1873, a french author by the name of Jules Verne wrote the story "Around the World in 80 Days". This book set a record for the most daring to break, and who was more daring than Nellie Bly. She left on November 14, 1889 from New Jersey on the ship Augusta Victoria. She had a large crowd celebrating and cheering on her embark on the record setting trip. She traveled light only with money, a watch and a jar of cold cream and what she was wearing. Her first leg was on the Augusta, she got off in France after six days and twenty-one hours on the boat. Immediately after she got off she was invited to meet Jules Verne and since she was ahead of schedule she said yes. After having a nice talk she went straight to Brindisi, Italy. On November 25, day 11, she sent a telegraph from Italy to her newspaper, it took two weeks to get there. Next, she was to travel across the Mediterranean Sea to Port Said, then across the Red Sea to Aden, next across the Arabian Sea to Columbo. She was defiantly ahead of schedule, but nothing can last forever. She was stranded in Columbo for five days waiting for her next steamship, The Napaal. She made the best of it, writing back to the newspaper about her adventures and the culture of the destinations. The newspaper created a popular column that was followed by readers nation wide. The newspaper also started a game, The Nellie Bly Guessing Match, whoever guessed the exact date and time, down to the hour and minute, of Nellie's return would get their name in the newspaper. On day 33, 11,000 miles to go, the steamship finally arrived and had taken her to Singapore where she bought a monkey. Then on to Hong Kong, but as she was buying her ticket to Yokohama, Japan she found out some interesting news. A few days after her first departure a woman named Elizabeth Bisland had set out to try to beat Nellie to the finish line. Now it was getting serious, from Japan she set out across the Pacific at racing speed to San Fransisco. Then crossing the nation to Chicago she set a record for the fastest traveling time from San Fransisco to Chicago in 72 hours. Now just from Pitsburgh to New Jersey, 300 miles. She arrived in New Jersey on January 25, 1890, completing her trip in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds creating a new world record. At 25, Nellie Bly was the most famous woman in the world.

=__**Late Career and Life**__= After her great journey and large contribution to the earnings of The World, she was very upset that they would not give her a raise or bonus so she left to look for other opportunities. She took an opportunity to write fiction stories for a magazine, which she struggled with until she received news of her brother's death. Her brother Charles died in 1890 at the age of 28. She quit her job and helped care for her nieces and nephews. Then, in 1893, The World asked if she would be interest ed in coming back. She wrote her first article for them titled "Nellie Bly Again". She was back she wrote tons of articles that exposed the social corruption of the world and supported the Women's Movement. She continued her stunt journalism by posing as a widow trying to sell her baby, a thief to expose police corruption and covered the Pullman Strike from the striker's point of view. She also investigated a triple murder, interviewed Emma Golden who was put in jail for supposedly starting a riot. Then she met 70 year old Robert Seaman who she married at 30 in 1909. Ten years later he died and the took over his business. The business failed tremendously and she realized journalism was her one and only calling. She went back to writing in New York covering diverse topic and helping orphans find new homes. She helped the poor and donated to charities. She died at pneumonia in 1922 at the age of 58. She was a wonderful writer and author, proclaimed best reporter in America and the pioneered a type of journalism that would last for 10 years.

Works Cited Ehrlich, Elizabeth. //Nellie Bly// . New York: Chelsea House, 1989. Print.  Fredeen, Charles. //Nellie Bly: Daredevil Reporter// . Minneapolis: Lerner, 2000. Print.  Gazzillo, Rosemary. "Nellie Bly 1864 - 1922 The Best Reporter in America." //Http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu //. 10 Dec. 1998. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/nellie.html>. //

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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Google Image Result for Http: // wildaboutwriting.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/nellie-bly.jpg?w=216&h=192." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Google// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://wildaboutwriting.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/nellie-bly.jpg?w=216&h=192&imgrefurl=http://wildaboutwriting.com/ragtime-companion/&usg=__kWJcZDHCABK4bC7eP9ATKGGoLD4=&h=192&w=216&sz=5&hl=en&start=39&zoom=1&tbnid=D52nrEMuwtsoxM:&tbnh=153&tbnw=172&ei=zBFYTZKQJMa2twednMHZDA&prev=/images?q=nellie+bly+with+orphans&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=642&tbs=isch:10,1066&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=180&vpy=297&dur=441&hovh=153&hovw=172&tx=153&ty=51&oei=xxFYTfPwMYP88AaR5-GcBw&page=3&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:39&biw=1280&bih=642>.//

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Krensky, Stephen. // Nellie Bly: a Name to Be Reckoned with//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. New York: Aladdin, 2003. Print. //

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kroeger, Brooke. // Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. New York: Times, 1994. Print. //

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Macy, Sue, and Linda Ellerbee. // Bylines: a Photobiography of Nellie Bly//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2009. Print. // //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Ten Days in a Mad-House." //Digital.library Server at Penn Libraries//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 32px; white-space: normal;">// American Experience: Around the World in 72 Days //. Dir. American Expierence. WGBH, 1997. DVD.