Nellie Bly

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1:31It is October 1887 in the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island, standing in New York's East River. On a narrow iron bed, a 23-year-old woman going by the name Nellie Brown lies listening as another patient cries out somewhere along the corridor. Now, a female warden marches into the ward and orders the patients to rise. Nellie, who has been here less than a day, sits up immediately. But most move slowly, staring blankly ahead. The breakfast bell rings, and she joins the other patients as they shuffle into a long hall where thin, sour-smelling gruel is ladled into tin bowls. Nellie finds a place to sit.

2:16To her left is a frail young woman whispering anxiously to herself in German. On her other side is an older patient, rocking silently back and forth, seemingly oblivious to a nurse who passes, berating her and demanding she sit still. As soon as the meager meal is over, the women are marched towards the washroom. There, attendants force them to strip before throwing buckets of icy water over their heads. Shivering so hard she can barely dress herself after what passes as a bath here, Nellie looks up and catches the eye of another inmate, a middle-aged woman who'd spoken kindly to her when she arrived yesterday.

2:58She had insisted she wasn't mad, that she'd been sent here by her husband, who had taken up with another woman and wanted her out of the way. Nellie can't help but believe her. She seems angry and exhausted. But aren't those sane responses to what she's experiencing? Filing out of the washroom, Nellie tries to speak to another patient. Through mime and broken English, the woman explains that she came to America looking for work. She doesn't understand how she's ended up in this place. Though she's been here just a short time, Nellie has heard several similar stories. What she hasn't offered in return is that she has been locked up among them by her own volition.

3:46Because outside of the asylum, she is better known as Nellie Bly. an investigative reporter for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. And she volunteered to come here, to discover the truth about what happens inside these walls. In their damp clothes, the women are marched from the washroom into the long, bare room where they must spend much of their days. Straight-backed wooden benches line the walls. One by one, the patients are directed onto them until the room is filled with silent, motionless figures, forbidden to speak. Nellie lowers herself onto the hard bench between two women wrapped tightly in thin shawls.

4:32The silence stretches out, and the cold seeps into every inch of Nellie's flesh, but there is nothing to be done. Every time a woman speaks, she is silenced with a swift rebuke. And as the hours pass, Nelly understands something deeply unsettling. This is not treatment. It is a brutal regime which will surely induce madness in even the most sanguine. And as its victims have been deprived not just of their dignity and freedom, but also their voices, it's up to her to tell the world about it.

5:21Nellie Bly was one of the most famous journalists on earth, a trailblazer who forged a unique path through an industry in which few women had ever worked. Challenging powerful institutions and exposing hidden injustice, she chased danger across continents, shocking readers with the places she was willing to go in pursuit of a story. But how did an ordinary young woman convince major editors to give her a chance to become a pioneer in journalism? What drove her to fake insanity in order to expose abuse inside a New York asylum and risk her life and reputation in pursuit of a story? And how did she help change not just journalism, but the way women could move through the modern world?

6:08I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Podcast Network. This is a short history of Nellie Bly.

6:23The woman who will become famous under the pen name Nellie Bly is born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in 1864 in a small town around 30 miles from Pittsburgh. The family is enormous, combining the 10 children her father had with his late first wife, and the five he fathers with Nellie's mother, Mary Jane. Vibrant and energetic, Elizabeth stands out from an early age and is known as pink, thanks to the bright colors her mother dresses her in. Her father, Michael Cochran, is a mill owner and local judge, and the family is comfortable and respected. But that security does not last. When Elizabeth is just six years old, her father dies without leaving a will, and the stable life she has known is upended.

7:14Brooke Kroger is a journalist, author, and writer of Nellie Bly, Daredevil Reporter, Feminist. So remember, there are 15 children of Michael Cochran He dies, the estate is divided A third for the widow's dower And the rest divided among all these children So nobody got very much Elizabeth's mother remarries businessman John Jackson Ford Hoping the marriage will provide the security she needs for her five children But Ford drinks And when the relationship turns abusive She takes the rare step of filing for divorce She is forced to present evidence of cruelty in open court. But then Elizabeth also takes the stand, speaking publicly about her stepfather's alcoholism and violence.

8:03Nellie, at 14 years old, testifies at the trial. The testimony is on record. It was quite remarkable. It's handwritten by a transcriber, obviously. But what she reports having seen, the real abuse of her mother, and growing up in that household, this is her formative experience. Her testimony helps secure the divorce the following year It is an early glimpse of the quality that will define her life A willingness to speak out when convention tells women to keep quiet

8:36When Elizabeth is 15, her mother uses the little money she has left To enroll her in the Indiana State Normal School Where she begins training as a teacher One of the few professions readily available to women at the time But the money runs out, and after just one semester, she is forced to leave. Plunged into financial hardship, the family moves to Pittsburgh, where Nellie helps her mother run a boarding house. They have a roof over their heads, but not a whole lot more. That whole constellation of issues creates her, in my opinion. She is mostly driven not by the desire to become a journalist.

9:14It is the desire to accumulate wealth and support her family. That is really what she is after, and a better life for herself, the life she feels she was born to for herself. Elizabeth works in child care to supplement the family income. With little formal education, her options for advancement are limited, but she remains determined and outspoken. It's only a matter of time before her circumstances and character combine to change the course of her fortunes.

9:48Her new home of Pittsburgh is a booming industrial center, driven mainly by steel, coal and manufacturing. Luckily for Elizabeth, it also has a lively and competitive newspaper industry. In 1885, she reads a column in the Pittsburgh Dispatch entitled, What Girls Are Good For. Its argument is blunt. Paid work should remain the domain of men, and women belong in the home. It just enrages her because she is looking for real work. And he is basically saying young women who are now trying their muscle in the workforce are getting in the way of young men who need jobs, not really understanding that among the human beings involved, there are people who need to earn a living for their family who happen also to be women.

10:43She sends a response under the pseudonym Lonely Orphan Girl The editor, George Madden, is so impressed that he places a notice in the paper Asking for the anonymous writer to identify herself When she comes forward, he offers her a job The incredibly amazing thing that happens And any journalist listening will know how extraordinary this is The editor looks at the letter says, oh, the grammar's terrible, the syntax is terrible, but I see a spirit here. Bring this girl in. So he actually runs an ad in the paper, would she come forward, which she does, and gets the job. It's both a stroke of luck for Elizabeth and a shrewd move by Madden, who understands the value of his female readers.

11:32You suddenly realize this is a whole readership that we can attract, who advertisers want to appeal to because they're consumers. So it's very, very practical in that sense. He's going to overlook everything not okay about her and say, bring this girl in and let's have a look.

11:54But though the women's sections that have recently begun appearing in newspapers tend to cover uncontroversial domestic subjects, Elizabeth's first published piece is written in response to the column that sparked her letter. In the article entitled The Girl Puzzle, she challenges widely accepted gender norms, arguing for broader opportunities for women's careers and education Instead of using her real name, she publishes under the byline Nellie Bly Launching the pseudonym that will one day be known around the world She is now a rookie reporter, albeit one earning$5 a week, half that of a man doing the same job But while the dispatch has opened a door to her, many still remain closed.

12:42Women at this point are being hired into newspapers to do this gut work. They're hired to do the behind-the-scenes things, book reviews, gossip, flower shows. This is what they're asked to do, and this is absolutely what she does not want to do. What she wants to do is make waves. She has plenty of ideas. and she's not afraid of going after the story. One such pitch involves looking at conditions in some of Pittsburgh's factories to find out what life is like for the many women and children who work in them. Bly persuades the dispatch to let her investigate. But the strict stage management of her visits presents a major obstacle.

13:28So she gets the assignment, but she's young and not very experienced, So, of course, this is all organized through the management of the firms. And she realizes she is not going to get to talk a lot about child labor. She is not going to get to talk a lot about how awful the working conditions are because she's being guided by the management's view of this situation. But she can get in a line from an eight-year-old. You know, there's a little, like, hints of what she's trying to get at. That experience teaches her that if you don't go undercover, you're not going to get the real story in situations where people are trying to hide information from you.

14:09Soon she moves to an issue closer to her heart. Drawing on her own experience, she examines the difficulties women face in unhappy or abusive marriages. She criticizes laws that make it hard for women to divorce or achieve financial independence, often using interviews or case studies of wives trapped in restrictive domestic situations. Readers are captivated and unsettled in equal measure, with many shocked by her coverage of stories that have traditionally been off-limits. But the pioneering approach does not go down well with the paper's advertisers, who are by nature averse to upsetting their paying readers.

14:51She's moved away from reporting and back to the women's pages. But if anything, the attempt to sideline her only sharpens her ambition. She has discovered that telling uncomfortable truths can make powerful people nervous. And she likes that.

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16:44Try it. Style it. Make it yours. Because the right pair doesn't just show up. It shows off. First day fits, handled. Walk out ready for whatever's next. Visit your nearest croc store today. Though reporting on foreign affairs from abroad remains overwhelmingly male territory, One of the ways female reporters can break out of the women's pages is through travel writing. In 1886, after just two years in Pittsburgh, she persuades her editor to send her to Mexico. Politically stable but undemocratic, the nation has seen rapid economic growth, which creates prosperity alongside grinding poverty. These stark contrasts make it appealing to American journalists and travel writers, drawn by its accessibility, exotic culture, and growing importance to U.S.

17:41business interests. Being young and unmarried, Bly is unable to travel alone. So when she sets off on the journey of almost 2 ,000 miles to the border, she does so with her mother in tow as a chaperone, determined to make a name for herself. Well, she does a lot of diary-like stuff, travelogue. What struck me most about it was her skill at interviewing is already coming out. She asks the question nobody thinks to ask. Like, she's watching a bullfight, and she's wondering, how do they keep their britches up? You know, asking some oblique question that makes her writing kind of preposterous and interesting and engaging, like a train wreck, all the time.

18:27You know, you're always taken on by her voice and by her mind. you know, the way she thinks about things.

18:37Over six months, she sends regular dispatches back to Pittsburgh. There, the dispatch publishes them under recurring headlines like Nelly in Mexico, turning her into part of the story. As she travels, she speaks to anyone and everyone, from officials to laborers, journalists to shopkeepers, not to mention dissidents. Thanks to Bly's gift for persuading people to speak candidly, despite the risks, a picture emerges of censorship, corruption, and a press that survives only by avoiding any condemnation of the regime. She tries to show some political sophistication at a certain point. At the end of the five months, she gets herself in some trouble because she talks about some journalists who've been subjected to censorship that she shouldn't have talked about.

19:27Though much of her work is more gossip than hard-nosed investigation, she understands the risks of exposing things others want to keep hidden. Having reported on cases of journalists imprisoned for criticizing the regime, she has seen for herself the appalling conditions inside Mexican jails. The last thing she wants is to end up in one herself.

19:57It is spring 1886, in a bustling marketplace in Mexico City. Nellie Bly weaves between tables and blankets, piled high with goods. She walks with unhurried calm, taking in the bright piles of produce for sale. But she does not stop. Because the leisurely air she projects is an act, she urgently needs to get back to her boarding house, find her mother, and gather their things. Earlier this morning she received word that her reports for the dispatch have been seen by the Mexican authorities and they are not happy. If she doesn't get out soon, she could be arrested. Keeping a sharp eye out for anyone who might be police, she heads from the market and onto the street leading towards her temporary home.

20:46After a few minutes, she arrives outside the boarding house, wedged between a tobacconist's and a tailor's shop. Nelly mounts the worn stone steps two at a time and pushes through the heavy front door She hurries across the tiled hallway and up the narrow wooden staircase Listening for anything suggesting the authorities have beaten her to it As she reaches the top landing and unlocks the door She finds her mother is already there Anxiously gathering belongings from the washstand and bed One look passes between them enough to confirm the danger without explanation. Nelly moves quickly, pulling dresses from hooks, folding clothes into a case, gathering notebooks and loose papers from the bedside table.

21:33Minutes later, carrying their bags, the two women descend the stairs and step back out into the heat of the morning, where a waiting carriage stands ready at the curb. They climb in, and after a short ride, the rail station comes into view, and the horses slow to a stop. The women quickly make their way to the platform, which is mercifully busy enough with passengers and porters to make it easy to blend in. Gripping her own case, Nellie's mother reaches quietly for her hand. She squeezes it once, briefly, before letting go when the hiss of steam signals the arrival of their train. They climb aboard quickly, moving down the narrow corridor of the carriage as passengers settle into their seats around them.

22:21A whistle blows, and soon they are watching through the window as the countryside slides by.

22:29But although they are past some of the danger, they are not yet beyond it. The American border is still days away, and until they cross it, she must remain vigilant. Every stranger could be an official sent to intercept her. Every stop could be the one at which she is forced from the train and turned back. If she reaches the safety of the United States, she will have escaped with the final installment of an astonishing story. If she does not, she may vanish into the punitive system of a regime she has challenged in print.

23:09By the time Nellie makes it home She has done more than enough to establish herself As a serious reporter Someone worthy of recognition, respect And money Or so she thinks This was like her first professional Big risk idea And remember she's not doing it for the risk She is fearless I mean she is a daredevil but she's doing it to establish herself in this field. She wants to be preeminent and she is going after that in the ways that she thinks can get her there. And they assign her to write theater. The message she returns to is clear. Even after risk, even after success, the boundaries remain.

23:55So in 1887, aged 23, she says goodbye to her mother and siblings and leaves Pittsburgh to take her chances in New York. Nellie arrives broke, unemployed, and naive about the realistic prospect of finding decent work. Though she might have had a lucky break back home, here in the center of America's media, no one is looking to hire a 23-year-old woman with a couple of years' experience on a Pittsburgh paper. Male editors are crusty and set in their ways and think a certain thing about women. they believe that women are not good value. You know, they need a chaperone to go out at night. You don't want to send them on a dangerous assignment.

24:38We don't even think you're capable of doing it because of your limited brain power. I mean, they have all these stereotypes that are ingrained in the culture and have been for 300 years. She thought it would be nothing. She had great recommendations. She had letters of entree. She had all the things you need, and she was getting nowhere because it's New York. the media capital of the universe. She is getting nowhere. She is from provincial Pittsburgh, and that is how she is viewed.

25:13For months, she struggles, living cheaply off what meager earnings she can scrape together, filing occasional freelance pieces back to the Pittsburgh dispatch. But everywhere she turns, she finds closed doors. She cannot get anywhere near a New York editor, let alone pitch an idea to one. Nellie Bly, however, is nothing if not resourceful. Turning the situation to her advantage, she writes a piece about the workplace realities for women journalists and the kind of stories they ordinarily get to cover if they get hired at all. What they're good at, gossip, society, fashion, they don't want to do.

25:54But of course, these are the things that men absolutely don't want to do. So that is what women are managing to get hired for. So that story, which she publishes in the Pittsburgh Dispatch, goes what we would today call viral. It's everywhere. And it really gives her a marker to find her way in the door in New York.

26:18Off the back of this story, she persuades Joseph Pulitzer's New York World to give her an assignment. It is audacious, even by the standards of the era. The plan is to fake insanity, get herself committed to the women's lunatic asylum on what is now Roosevelt Island, and report from the inside. To prepare, she practices a wide-eyed, demented stare in front of a boarding house mirror. Then, after going without sleep for some time to complete the look, she starts speaking incoherently, dropping in some of the Spanish she learned on assignment in Mexico. Witnessing her act, her landlady calls the police, and after a doctor's examination lasting less than 10 minutes, a judge signs the committal order.