Nellie Bly
Personal Information
Born: 1864
Died: 1922
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
1 semester Indiana University of Pennsylvania 1879
Professional Life
Field of Study: Investigative Journalism
Institution/Corporation: None found
Degrees & Memberships: None found
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1998 National Women's Hall of Fame; 2015 Google Doodle
Achievements: in Pittsburgh, went undercover & worked in a factory exposing the unsafe working conditions, poor wages, & long hours; was demoted to writing about "women's fashion, society, & gardening after advertising factory owners complained; feigning mental illness she went undercover at an insane asylum on Blackwell's (now Roosevelt) Island resulting in much needed changes to care in 1887; set a record for circumnavigating the world (72 days)1889-1890; conducted exclusive interviews with notables of her time including W.E.B. DuBois, Susan B. Anthony, & allegedly insane serial killer Lizzie Halliday; her exploits were called "stunt girl journalism" a term often used derogatorily; covered the Woman Suffrage Procession of 1913 for the New York Evening Journal & predicted women would be given the right to vote in 1920; wrote stories on Europes Eastern Front during WW1;was the 1st woman to visit the war zone between Serbia & Austria; was arrested when she was mistaken for a British spy & released after being recognized as the famous Nellie Bly, war correspondent;
Real name is Elizabeth Jane Cochran (later Cochrane) Seaman
took pen name Nellie Bly from a popular Stephen Foster song of the time
childhood nickname was "Pink" because she was often dressed in the color
had a pet monkey she named McGinty she purchased in Singapore while on her trip around the world
was the 13th of 15 children born to her father's 2 marriages
father rose from a mill worker to mill owner & justice of the area, died when she was 6 &, by the time his estate was divided, there was little for his 2nd wife & her 4 children
helped her mother run a boarding house after being forced to drop out of college after 1 semester due to lack of funds
1885 wrote a response to a Pittsburgh Gazette article which stated women were only good for birthing children & keeping house & signed it "Lonely Orphan girl"
paper editor placed an add asking her to identify herself ( when she did, offered her a job writing 2 more columns
signed the 3rd column Nelly bly but an editor's error changed it to Nellie & she kept the pen name
had a weekly column & wrote articles criticizing of factory conditions & was demoted to writing about fashion, society, & gardening
volunteered to be a foreign correspondent in Mexico at age 21
spent 6 months writing about the lives & customs of Mexican people
fled Mexico under the threat of arrest after writing articles criticizing the government & dictatorship under Porfirio Diaz
moved to New York & got a job working for Joseph Pulitzer's New York world after 6 months
quit writing for the newspaper after her trip around the world & began writing serial novels for the weekly New York Famil Story Paper
wrote 12 novels for them between 1889 & 1895
novels were lost until 2020 when they were located in editions of the paper discovered in the belongings of the editor, they were republished in 2021 under the title "The Lost Novels of Nellie Bly"
1895 married Robert Seaman, a wealthy industrialist 42 years older then her & she quit writing
due to Robert's failing health & death in 1904 she assumed leadership of his business the Iron clad Manufacturing Comapny; she was more concerned for the welfare of her employees & was a poor businesswoman
company went bankrupt due to her negligence & the embezzlement of funds by a factory manager & she returned to journalism in 1911
honored with a US postage stamp in 2002
2021, the Puzzle Girl art installation honoring her opened on Roosevelt Island
the New York Press Club awards a yearly Nellie Bly Cub Reporter award
2 plays and an opera are based on her life
there are numerous books written about her & she is depicted in numerous movies & television shows
there is a board game about her around the world journey
a Brooklyn New York amusement park, fireboat, species of tarantuala, & train are named after her
she wrote 3 non-fiction books which are mainly compilations of her articles & 1 novel in addition to her 12 serial novels
many of her original articles can be found at historicjournalism.com/nellie-bly.html
held 5 patents