Profile of the Day: Nellie Bly

Posted May 5, 2023 by Amanda | No Comment

Today marks the birth of American journalist, inventor, and record-breaker Nellie Bly!

Image: Nellie Bly / Library of Congress

She was born Elizabeth Jane Cochrane on May 5, 1864 in Cochran’s Mills, Pennsylvania. Writing under the the pen name “Nellie Bly,” Bly was a pioneer of her field and launched a new kind of investigative journalism.

As a reporter for Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World, Bly wrote one of her earliest and most provocative pieces, a startling exposé on the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. An undercover assignment, Bly feigned insanity to investigate reports of brutality and neglect at the asylum. After ten days at the asylum, she was released at the behest of the New York World. Her report, later published in the book Ten Days in a Mad-House, caused a public sensation and exposed the physical and mental abuse and disturbing conditions of the facility. The exposé’s massive success not only brought Bly lasting fame, but also launched a grand jury investigation that brought about much needed healthcare improvements at facilities throughout the area.

In 1888, she took on another news worthy assignment, a trip around the world inspired by the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. Along her travels, she even met Jules Verne in Amiens, France. Bly completed her journey in 72 days, setting a new world record at the time.

Fun fact: In addition to her adventures as a journalist, Bly was also an inventor. She holds the patent for an improved milk can.

Bly died of pneumonia on January 27, 1922. She was 57.

Explore Nellie Bly’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re connected to the trailblazing journalist.