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# 3665 - 2002 37c Women in Journalism: Nellie Bly
37¢ Nellie Bly
Women in Journalism
Color: Multicolored
Birth Of Nellie Bly
When she was a teenager, Bly read an offensive article in the Pittsburgh Dispatch titled, “What Girls are Good For.” She was so upset that she wrote an angry response to the editor under the name, “Lonely Orphan Girl.” The editor was so impressed he ran an advertisement asking her to reveal herself and ultimately offered her a full-time job. It was at this time that she adopted the pen name Nellie Bly, after the character in a Stephen Foster song.

Bly’s early writing focused on the difficulties of working women. But she was soon pressured to write about “women’s issues” such as fashion and gardening. Bly then spent six months in as a foreign correspondent. When she returned to the Dispatch she was again forced to write about issues she found boring so she quit and moved to New York. There she found work with the New York World and agreed to fake insanity so she could investigate alleged brutality and neglect at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island.
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Bly put on a good act that earned her a spot in the asylum, where she witnessed the poor conditions firsthand. The women were fed spoiled food and undrinkable water; those considered dangerous were tied together; many forced to sit entire days on hard benches; rats and waste were everywhere; and nurses beat patients. Bly spoke with her fellow patients and realized some of them were as sane as she was, and could have been driven mad by the deplorable conditions. After 10 days, the World demanded her release and Bly published her story, which was later made into a book, Ten Days in a Mad-House. The asylum was then investigated and major changes followed. Bly soon enjoyed widespread fame.
In 1888, Bly suggested to her editor that she take a trip around the world, in an attempt to make the fictional trip from Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days a reality. Bly grew increasingly excited for the trip and with two days’ notice, embarked on the voyage at 9:40 a.m. on November 14, 1889. That morning, she boarded the Augusta Victoria of the Hamburg America Line to begin her 24,899-mile journey.
37¢ Nellie Bly
Women in Journalism
Color: Multicolored
Birth Of Nellie Bly
When she was a teenager, Bly read an offensive article in the Pittsburgh Dispatch titled, “What Girls are Good For.” She was so upset that she wrote an angry response to the editor under the name, “Lonely Orphan Girl.” The editor was so impressed he ran an advertisement asking her to reveal herself and ultimately offered her a full-time job. It was at this time that she adopted the pen name Nellie Bly, after the character in a Stephen Foster song.

Bly’s early writing focused on the difficulties of working women. But she was soon pressured to write about “women’s issues” such as fashion and gardening. Bly then spent six months in as a foreign correspondent. When she returned to the Dispatch she was again forced to write about issues she found boring so she quit and moved to New York. There she found work with the New York World and agreed to fake insanity so she could investigate alleged brutality and neglect at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island.

Bly put on a good act that earned her a spot in the asylum, where she witnessed the poor conditions firsthand. The women were fed spoiled food and undrinkable water; those considered dangerous were tied together; many forced to sit entire days on hard benches; rats and waste were everywhere; and nurses beat patients. Bly spoke with her fellow patients and realized some of them were as sane as she was, and could have been driven mad by the deplorable conditions. After 10 days, the World demanded her release and Bly published her story, which was later made into a book, Ten Days in a Mad-House. The asylum was then investigated and major changes followed. Bly soon enjoyed widespread fame.
In 1888, Bly suggested to her editor that she take a trip around the world, in an attempt to make the fictional trip from Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days a reality. Bly grew increasingly excited for the trip and with two days’ notice, embarked on the voyage at 9:40 a.m. on November 14, 1889. That morning, she boarded the Augusta Victoria of the Hamburg America Line to begin her 24,899-mile journey.