Nellie Bly

Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman (born Elizabeth Jane Cochran; May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922), better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days in emulation of Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg, and for an exposé in which she worked undercover to report on a mental institution from within. She ushered in the era of stunt girl reporting and helped advance a new kind of immersion journalism.

Nellie Bly’s book Ten Days in a Mad-House was initially published as a series of articles for the New York World. Bly later compiled the articles into a book, which was published by Norman Munro in New York City in 1887.

The book was based on articles written while Bly was on an undercover assignment for the New York World, feigning insanity at a women’s boarding house, so as to be involuntarily committed to an insane asylum. She then investigated the reports of brutality and neglect at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island (now called Roosevelt Island).^[2]

The book received widespread acclaim. The combination of her reportage and the release of her content brought her fame and led to a grand jury investigation and financial increase in the Department of Public Charities and Corrections.