Yes. Joe posted two articles, that I recall. Besides the one in
which she becomes a mental patient, he posted one about her
experiences as a worker in a box manufacturing company.
I've read other articles by Nellie Bly, one that comes to mind dealt
with the lack of child labor laws, and the ten hour days small
children were putting in.
But we tend to forget just how hard times were. We've been schmoozed
by the Corporate Media into believing that our troubles are caused by
Socialists and Communists, instead of the control of our government by
Corporations. We actually sing about "The Good Old Days", when in
truth they never existed...for working class Americans(remember, I
include what we still call the Middle Class).
The years between the Second World War and 1970, were about the best
30 years working class Americans ever had. It took FDR the best part
of ten years to force the banks and Wall Street to let loose of some
of their control, and wealth. The War actually played a major role in
creating jobs, and the demand for workers helped push up wages. But
it was short lived. With the end of the war, corporate America began
to reel in all the dollars and control they had "lost".
Although, due to its shortsightedness and greed, corporate Capitalism
is doomed to implode. And with it, all the wealth that has been taken
from the people will also disappear as if it never existed. Maybe
what we need to do is to organize a boycott against commercial TV,
radio and magazines. Just forcing ourselves to break away from the
constant hammering by the Corporate Media might help us come back to
our senses.
Carl Jarvis
On 5/27/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
That's an incredible story. I had that article of her's about her undercover
work in the mental hospital on my computer for years. It was a very long
article and I had to keep coming back to it and finding my place. I think
Joe originally posted it. At any rate, it was quite something.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2018 10:35 AM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Nellie Bly, America's greatest Female Journalist
Recently I ran across an article about Nellie Bly. I remembered Joe posted
several articles, a few years ago, detailing some of Nellie Bly's undercover
work, and the terrible conditions that so many working class Americans lived
under back 100 plus years ago. Think times are getting tough today? Well,
you're right! But unless we, the working class people, do not turn it
around, America will slip back to those Bad Old Days. Sadly, what Nellie
Bly reported on has been the Norm for most Americans. Only the Wealthy,
Privilaged Americans remember "the good old days". For most of us and our
parents and grandparents, there were only hard times.
Carl Jarvis
*****
Nellie Bly, 1864-1922
Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in the town of
Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania. The town was named for her father, Judge
Michael Cochran. Early in life, Elizabeth earned the nickname "Pink" because
her mother routinely dressed her in that color. Judge Cochran passed away
when Elizabeth was just six. Elizabeth's mother, Mary Jane, would re-marry
three years later to a man who was very abusive, forcing her to go through
the tortuous process of divorce. This left the family on very hard times.
Elizabeth attended Indiana Normal in hopes of becoming a teacher. However,
she could not afford tuition and spent only one semester at the school.
In 1880, Mary Jane moved her family to Pittsburgh. Elizabeth assisted her
mother with duties around their house which they had opened to boarders. In
January of 1885, Nellie read an editorial in The Pittsburgh Dispatch
entitled "What Girls Are Good For." The article admonished women for even
attempting to have an education or career, suggesting they should stray no
further than the home. This infuriated Elizabeth to the point of writing a
scathing reply that she signed "Little Orphan Girl." Dispatch editor George
Madden was so impressed by the reply, he placed an ad for the Little Orphan
Girl to visit the newspaper.
When Elizabeth introduced herself to Madden, the editor offered her the
opportunity to write a rebuttal piece to be published. Elizabeth went home
and wrote her first newspaper article "The Girl Puzzle." Impressed again,
Madden offered Elizabeth a full-time job writing under the name Nellie Bly
(the title of a popular song by Stephen Foster).
At the time women who worked at newspapers almost always wrote articles on
gardening, fashion or society. Nellie Bly eschewed these topics for hard
pressing stories on the poor and oppressed. Drawing from her mother's
experience, she wrote on the inherent disadvantages women had in divorce
proceedings. She also wrote numerous articles on the lives of poor women who
worked in Pittsburgh's bottle factories. Nellie's articles fascinated
readers, but drew criticism from the business community. When companies
threatened to pull advertising from the Dispatch because of her articles,
Nellie was assigned to a gardening story. When she turned in the article,
she included her resignation.
Nellie's next adventure was a six month trip to Mexico. She wrote of her
travels to Madden, who published her reports in the Dispatch.
However, what started
out as a travelogue soon turned into a scathing review of the Mexican
government. When she reported on President Porfirio Diaz imprisoning a
journalist for criticizing the government, Nellie soon found herself
threatened with arrest and left the country. Her accounts would later be
collected in the book Six Months In Mexico.
Back in the United States, Nellie decided that her next destination would be
New York City. In 1887, Nellie arrived in New York hoping to land a job at a
major newspaper, but none was offered. After four months of rejection, and
near penniless, she talked her way into the office of John Cockerill,
managing editor of the Joseph Pulitzer newspaper The New York World.
Determined not to leave without work, Nellie was eventually assigned to go
under-cover as a patient in the notorious asylum on Blackwell's Island and
report first-hand on her experience.
Nellie convinced both doctors and judges that she was insane, and was
committed to the asylum. She endured filthy conditions, rotten food and
physical abuse from doctors and nurses for ten days before a World agent
rescued her. Nellie's articles "Behind Asylum Bars" and "Inside The
Mad-House" created an uproar in New York. After further investigations were
launched, New York officials provided more money and a change in care for
the people at the asylum.
Nellie Bly had arrived.
Nellie would spend the next several years writing articles for The World.
She pioneered the field of investigative journalism. Often going
under-cover, she exposed crooked lobbyists in government, tracked the plight
of unwanted babies, reported on the conditions for poor workers in
box-making factories and much more. Nellie was becoming so popular, The
World would often use her name in the story's headline! People couldn't wait
to see what Nellie Bly was up to next.
Nellie's most famous story would begin in 1889. She proposed to travel
around the world faster than Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg in Around
The World In Eighty Days. Editors at The World were wary of the idea.
Women didn't travel without escorts, they carried too much baggage.
Never one to be denied,
Nellie Bly stepped onto the ocean liner Augusta Victoria by herself on
November 14, 1889 carrying only two small satchels.
Nellie traveled the world heading east from New York. Her journey took her
from England to Egypt, Ceylon, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan before
heading back to the United States. During a stop in France, Nellie got to
meet Jules Verne himself, who encouraged her to break his own - fictional -
record! In the meantime, to keep interest in Nellie's trip alive, The World
promoted a hugely popular guessing game for her arrival time.
Nellie would step back on to American soil in San Francisco. She then
boarded a train that took her across the country. On January 25, 1890,
Nellie Bly arrived back at her starting point; seventy-two days, six hours,
eleven minutes and fourteen seconds after her departure. Nellie was now a
hugely popular international celebrity. However, to her surprise, The World
did not offer Nellie a bonus despite the increase in circulation she had
created. Upset over the sleight, Nellie Bly resigned from the newspaper.
Though unemployed, Nellie was not short of opportunities. Her image graced
trading cards, board games and numerous other products. She went on lecture
tours and wrote Nellie Bly's Book: Around The World In Seventy-Two Days.
Unfortunately, during this time, her brother Charles died, and Nellie began
taking care of his wife and two children.
In 1893, a new editor at The World convinced Nellie to come back. On
September 17th, the headline "Nellie Bly Again" appeared on the front page
of The World. For the next three years, Nellie was back with articles about
police corruption, the violent Pullman labor strike and an interview with
noted suffragist Susan B. Anthony among others.
In 1895, Nellie surprised everyone by marrying noted industrialist Robert
Seaman, and by 1896 she had stopped writing for The World.
Robert Seaman was
owner of the Iron Clad Manufacturing Company which made milk cans, barrels
and other steel products. As the marriage progressed, Nellie became more and
more involved with the company. She even patented a milk can of her own
design. When Robert died in 1904, Nellie (as Elizabeth Cochrane
Seaman) took over
the company and became the world's leading female industrialist.
Unfortunately by 1914, poor management and fraud within the company forced
her into bankruptcy.
That same year saw Nellie travel to Europe to visit a friend in Austria. It
also saw the outbreak of World War 1. Nellie got in contact with former
World editor Arthur Brisbane who now worked at the Hearst newspaper The New
York Evening Journal and made arrangements to become a journalist once
again. Nellie Bly was America's first female war correspondent, writing
articles on her experiences at the war's front lines. What had started as a
vacation turned into a five year tour of duty.
By 1919, Nellie was back in New York and writing regularly for The Evening
Journal. She had her own column and dispensed advice as well as her opinion
on topics of the day. She helped poor women find jobs and raised money to
aid widows, children and others who faced hard times.
Nellie Bly passed away on January 27, 1922 from pneumonia, having continued
to write her column up until her death. The next day, The Evening Journal
carried a tribute to the pioneering reporter, declaring Nellie Bly "The Best
Reporter In America."
