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nellie bly
Nellie Bly was born in Cochran’s Mills, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Her family owned a lucrative mill in Cochran, Pennsylvania. -
Fathers death
At the age of six, Bly lost her father. Unable to maintain the land or their house, the family moved. Her mother also remarried but later divorced due to abuse. -
The name change
Unable to maintain the land or their house, the family moved. Her mother also remarried but later divorced due to abuse. While attending Indiana Teacher’s College, Elizabeth added an “e” to her last name becoming Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. Due to the family’s financial crisis she was unable to finish her education. No longer in school, Bly focused on helping her mother run a boardinghouse. -
The letter
One day an upset Bly decided to pen an open letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Her short but important piece pointed out the paper’s negative representation of women. The editor not only read Bly’s response, he printed her rebuttal, and offered Bly a job as columnist. As a newspaper writer, she took the pen name Nellie Bly. Although Bly was a popular columnist, she was often asked to write pieces that only addressed women. -
8 DAYS
She moved to New York City. As a woman, Bly found it extremely hard for her to find work. After pretending to be mentally ill for 10 days, the New York World published Bly’s articles about her time in the insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island in a six-part series. Ten Days in a Mad-House quickly made Bly one of the most famous journalists in the United States. -
New York
Nellie Bly stormed into the office of the New York World, one of the leading newspapers in the country. She expressed interest in writing a story on the immigrant experience in the United States. -
72 DAY TRIP
She made a famous, widely reported and intrepid 72-day trip around the globe. It was the fastest journey of her era and one that shattered the fictional record of Jules Verne’s wanderer, Phineas Fogg, in his novel “Around the World in 80 Days.” -
Marriage
Bly married millionaire Robert Seamen and retired from journalism. -
Husbands Death
Bly’s husband died in 1903 leaving her in control of a massive manufacturing company. In business, her curiosity and independent spirit flourished. Bly went on to patent several inventions related to oil manufacturing, many of which are still used today. In her later years Bly returned to journalism, covering the woman suffrage movement and World War I. -
Death
While still working as a writer Bly died from pneumonia
