You are listening to An Ounce, Season 6, Episode 11, Nellie Bly
In her time Elizabeth Jane Cochran was a rather unusual lady. She was shaped in her younger years by the burdens of tragedy and hardship. But, choosing to not accept the limiting mantel of victimhood, she became a self-reliant, independent, and determined woman.
When Elizabeth Jane Cochran was six years of age her father passed away. Leaving no will, so by the law of the time her mother had no claim to his estate. This left the family of 15, 10 from her father’s previous marriage and she and 4 siblings, with no means of support.
The Slight Little Girl
It spite of this, the slight little girl, born in Pennsylvania in 1864, went on to become one of the most notable women in U.S. – and world history. Inserting herself – on purpose - into some of the most outlandish, and sometimes dangerous, adventures that anyone might conjure up.
Elizabeth enrolled in a small college in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and began studies to become a teacher. Sadly, financial concerns forced her to cut her education short and move to Pittsburgh, to help her mother run a boarding house.
But young Elizabeth had bigger dreams, the courage to ask questions, and the moxie to challenge how the world was.
She first caught the attention of the public when she wrote a response to an editorial in the Pittsburgh Dispatch, written by Erasmus Wilson. Writing a piece under his pen name the ‘Quiet Observer’, Wilson argued that the working woman was a monstrosity, and that proper women would confine themselves to domestic roles.
The then 18-year-old Elizabeth's letter to the editor was powerful, persuasive, and well written – even though some felt it was a bit racy.
The managing editor of the Pittsburgh Dispatch was impressed enough to offer Elizabeth a job.
So, in 1885 she began work as a reporter making 5 bucks a week, and she selected the moniker - Nellie Bly -
Relegated to writing bits for the society pages and women’s sections of the paper, Nelly Bly felt stifled and restricted; and became bored.
Level Headed
So, she did what any level-headed young lady of the time would do. She accepted a position with the New York World, and she checked herself into an asylum on Blackwell's (now known as Roosevelt) island. Her goal in this outrageous folly was to write an exposé on the insane asylums questionable practices. This sanitarium was a place where many a man of society would relegate a wife who didn’t mind her place – along with those who were truly mentally ill. Bly remained there for 10 days, then escaped with the help of a fiend on the ‘outside’. Having successfully escaped, she began to write. She revealed horrific practices and circumstances such as dismal conditions, mistreatment, physical abuse, and outright neglect.
Her piece inspired a probing public investigation into the Blackwell's island facility forcing changes to improve care, living conditions, and safety. And, from this experience she also wrote a well-received book titled ‘10 Days in a Madhouse’.
But she was just getting started –
In 1885, Bly undertook an assignment as a foreign correspondent in Mexico (at the time a somewhat unstable and undeveloped country). Her subjects included expository articles on people, local culture, and practices – as well as a note or two about marijuana.
Bly then wrote another successful novel called ‘Six Months in Mexico’.
Anything Phileas Fogg Can Do, I Can Do Better
If that were not enough adventure… inspired by the 1873 Jules Vern fiction novel, Around the World in 80 Days, Bly decided to make a quick trip around the world herself – with the goal of besting that 80 day benchmark.
In 1889 Bly set out from Hoboken New Jersey. She traveled light. Her only luggage was a small bag – and no change of clothing.
Bly recounts a conversation she had with a fellow passenger at the start of the adventure, as the ship ‘Augusta Victoria’ set out for London from Hoboken.
Bly penned the following:
“Do you get sea sick? I was asked in an interested and friendly way. That was enough. I flew to the railing.
Sick? I looked blindly down, caring little what the wild waves were saying, and gave vent to my feelings.”
A rather polite way of admitting she lost her cookies.
Throughout the journey she used the transportation modes of the day as they were available; including trains, ships, horses, the rickshaw, sampan, and even a burro.
Finally, she arrived where she began, In Hoboken – and set a world record. Snatching the glory from the fictional Phileas Fogg - who had held for 16 years the ‘fictional’ record of 80 days. Nellie Bly completed the trip in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes, and 14 seconds.
Nellie Bly also bested a rival from Cosmopolitan magazine who traveled, at the same time, in the opposite direction around the world, Elizabeth Bisland – Near the end of her trip around the globe Ms. Bisland got stuck on a slow boat across the Atlantic and lost Nellie.
Bly married in 1895 to Robert Seaman, a millionaire industrialist, who was 40 years her senior. The courtship and marriage raised a few eyebrows as this May/December match happened quickly. By all accounts, the couple were very happy together.
9 years later her husband passed, and for a time, Bly took the helm at her husband’s business, Iron Clad Manufacturing Company. She grew restless again and by 1920 Bly returned to journalism, writing for the New York Evening Journal. Her favored articles promoted the ever-developing women’s suffrage movement – a cause she had a great love for.
In New York City - in January 1922 – Elizabeth Jane Cochrane Seaman – better known as Nellie Bly – died of pneumonia at the age of 57.
So … Here’s An Ounce - from our short biographic sketch of the life of Neilly Bly.
Just as with any story, there are many little “ounce sized nuggets of wisdom” to be uncovered. For now, might I suggest just this one -
From Nellie Bly we may find a lesson from a determined little girl who chose NOT to be a victim of her circumstances. But instead broke from convention of her time, decided not to settle for what everyone else expected of her, and embraced a life of adventure and discovery.
And that’s it. An Ounce, submitted for your consideration.