Nellie Bly
Real Name: Elizabeth Cochran Seaman
Aliases: Nellie Bly
Relatives: Mary Jane Cochran (mother), Michael Cochran (father)
Affiliation: New York World, Pittsburgh Dispatch
Base Of Operations: New York City, United States
Identity: Public Identity
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Investigative journalist, industrialist, inventor, charity worker, and novelist
Born: May 5, 1864
Died: January 27, 1922
Image Description: An historical photograph of Nellie Bly, a woman with dark hair, wearing late 19th-century attire, looking confidently at the camera.
History
Elizabeth Cochran Seaman, better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was a groundbreaking American journalist, industrialist, inventor, and charity worker, widely recognized for her pioneering work in investigative journalism.
Born on May 5, 1864, in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania, Bly started her career at the Pittsburgh Dispatch, where she wrote investigative articles on the conditions for women factory workers. After facing backlash from local factory owners, she was reassigned to the women's pages to cover fashion, society, and gardening.
Unsatisfied, Bly moved to Mexico to serve as a foreign correspondent. Upon return, she moved to New York City and joined Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. There, she achieved widespread recognition for her exposé on the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island, which she investigated by feigning insanity and getting herself committed for ten days.
In 1889, Bly embarked on a journey to travel around the world in fewer than 80 days, emulating Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg. She completed the trip in 72 days, setting a world record.
Abilities
Investigative Journalism: Bly was a pioneering investigative journalist. She was known for her in-depth and incisive reporting, often going undercover to expose societal ills.
Writing: Bly was an accomplished writer, producing impactful news stories, exposés, and books throughout her career.
Industrial Management: After leaving journalism, Bly managed the Iron Clad Manufacturing Co., demonstrating business acumen.
Paraphernalia
Bly often carried a notebook and pencil for recording her observations, and during her trip around the world, she packed light, carrying just a single small bag.
Works
- "Ten Days in a Mad-House" (1887)
- "Around the World in Seventy-Two Days" (1890)
- "Six Months in Mexico" (1888)
- "The Mystery of Central Park" (1889)
Appearances/Collections
- "The Echoing Grove" by Rosamond Lehmann features a character reading "Around the World in Seventy-Two Days" (1953)
- Bly is a major character in Matthew Goodman's "Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World" (2013)
- Bly appears as a character in "The New Colossus," an episode of the TV series "Timeless" (2017)
- Bly is the protagonist in the historical mystery novel "Nellie Bly and the Ghost of Bell Island" by Tonya Mitchell (2021)
Related
- Joseph Pulitzer: Publisher of New York World, Bly's employer for significant period of her journalism career.
Notes
- Nellie Bly's real name was Elizabeth Jane Cochran. She adopted her pen name from a popular song at the time she started her journalism career.
- Beyond journalism, Bly also made significant contributions as an inventor, receiving a patent for a novel milk can design.
References
- Kroeger, Brooke (1994). "Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist". Times Books. ISBN 0-8129-1972-2.
- Lutes, Jean Marie (2006). "Into the Madhouse with Nellie Bly: Girl Stunt Reporting in Late Nineteenth-Century America". American Quarterly. 58 (1): 119–149.
- Bly, Nellie (1890). "Around the World in Seventy-Two Days". Pictorial Weeklies Company.
