NELLIE BLY

Key biographical information:

Nellie was a pioneer in the world of undercover journalism, one of the first
muckrakers.

Her real name was Elizabeth Jane Cochran, she was born in Pennsylvania on May 5th,
1864, in a family of 10 brothers, with a wealthy father who died young and whose
fortune vanished. As a child, she was called Pinky because it was her favorite color and
used to wear pink dresses, but when she grew up, she wanted to distance herself from
that female stereotype and called herself Cochrane. She was a smart girl who enjoyed
playing with her older brothers.

Asylum Blackwell island.

Round the world trip.

*****. In 1985 Elizabeth married millionaire Robert Seaman and retired from
journalism. When she was widowed, she took over the companies and made
important reforms; improving the working and salary conditions of employees.
Unfortunately, he failed as a businesswoman and after bankruptcy he had to return to
work, this time in the Evening Journal. There he had to cover the 1913 convention in
favor of the female vote and travel to Europe to cover the First World War, becoming
one of the first women war correspondents.

Nellie Bly, or Elizabeth "Pinky" Cochran, died at age 57 of pneumonia.

Formative experiences that led them to journalism and activism:

She never stood out in her studies, but always showed to be very creative and have
good writing skills. She enjoyed writing and unlike other girls from that time, she
wanted to become a writer.
Her father's death presented a grave financial problem to his family, as he left them
without a will, and, thus, no legal claim to his estate. This happened when she was only
six years old.
The family came on hard times. She worked odd jobs to try and help the family, but
jobs were hard to come by for women at the time. She wanted to stay in school, but
eventually, had to drop out because of lack of incomes. She moved with her mother to
the nearby city of Pittsburgh, where they ran a boarding house together.

Bly's future began to look brighter when she was 16, she read an article in the
Pittsburgh newspaper called “What are woman for” that portrayed women as weak
and worthless. It made her angry. She wrote a scathing letter to the editor of the paper
to let him know how she felt. The editor was so impressed with her writing and
passion that he offered her a job! Fun fact: When Elizabeth Cochran began in
journalism in 1885, it was considered inappropriate for a woman to write under her
own name. Cochran's editor chose the name “Nelly Bly” from a Stephen Foster song.
From that moment and on, she began writing articles for the paper.
Bored of being relegated to cover issues of fashion, society or culture, and with just 20
years old, the journalist decided to leave for Mexico to cover the riots from these
times.
It was a sexist column published by the Pittsburgh Dispatch newspaper, entitled "What
are women for?" That provoked a response from Cochran under the alias "Lone
Orphan." The editor George Madden was so impressed by the quality of the text that
he decided to put it to the test and then give him work in the newspaper creating the
journalistic identity of Nellie Bly. Bored of being relegated to cover issues of fashion,
society or culture, and with just 20 years old, the journalist decided to leave for Mexico
to cover the riots in the context of the Porfirio Díaz regime. His journalistic chronicles
of that period were later published in a book called "Six Months in Mexico."

Back in the United States, Nellie moved to New York and went to apply for work at the
New York World of Joseph Pulitzer. His first assignment was to impersonate a
psychiatric asylum for women in Blackwell's Island. He spent ten days of infiltration
and then denounced in an article the horrible conditions in which patients lived, which
caused a stir and resulted in an increase in the public health budget for mental health.

In 1888 he proposed to the World to go around the world in less than 80 days,
referring to the title of the novel by Julio Verne. In the middle he was not convinced
that it was Nellie who traveled because the women carried a lot of luggage, which was
going to hinder the challenge. She convinced them that it was the right one and on
November 14, 1889, she embarked on a 24,889-mile journey carrying only one
handbag. By boat he arrived in England, followed to Paris, where he had to meet Julio
Verne and the skeptical writer told him that if he could go around the world in 79 days,
he would applaud her publicly. Italy, Arabia, Sri Lanka, Colombo, Malaysia, Hong Kong,
San Francisco. On January 25, 1890, 72 days later, with 6 hours and 11 minutes, Nellie
Bly returned to New York. He broke the world record and the world press highlighted
his feat (months later George Frances Train surpassed the brand by going around the
world in 62 days).

Nellie Bly was the most famous American woman reporter of the 19th century. Her
investigation of conditions at an insane asylum sparked outrage, legal action, and
improvements of the treatment of the mentally ill. Her trip around the world in 72
days brought her even further fame