Nellie Bly: Biography

The woman who created history in the Journalism profession.

Nellie was born on May 5, 1864 as Elizabeth Cochran. Nellie started working for the Pittsburgh Dispatch as a journalist in 1885. She mainly focused on investigating and writing about women’s rights.

Two years later, Bly moves to New York City. Struggling to find work, she decided to go undercover. One of her accomplishments was going undercover for ten days at the insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island. She pretended to be mentally ill to get into the asylum to get the truth of how the people there were treated and tested on. When she got out of the asylum, her story was released titled “Behind Asylum Bars.” After the story was released, the asylum went under drastic changes to improve the treatment of the patients.

Bly’s work didn’t stop after the asylum. She went on a voyage around the world in 72 days. She made history as one of the most infamous journalists.

When Nellie was 31 she married Robert L. Seaman, who was a president of a steel company. When Robert died, in 1910, Bly took over all his property.

Nellie died at age 57 at St. Mark’s Hospital due to pneumonia. Before her death she was working for the New York Evening Journal.

Resources:

Markel, H. (2018, May 5). How Nellie Bly went undercover to expose abuse of the mentally ill. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/how-nellie-bly-went-undercover-to-expose-abuse-of-the-mentally-ill

Nellie Bly. (2019, April 15). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/activist/nellie-bly

Nellie Bly, Journalist, Dies of Pneumonia. (1922, January 28). Retrieved from http://movies2.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0505.html

Norwood, A. R. (2017). Nellie Bly. Retrieved from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nellie-bly

Shahid, S. (2014, November 12). Around the World With Nellie Bly. Retrieved from https://www.newseum.org/2014/11/12/around-the-world-with-nellie-bly/