Nellie Bly: The Unbelievable Real Life Adventures

by in60Learning

Smarter in sixty minutes. Get smarter in just 60 minutes with in60Learning. Concise and elegantly written non-fiction books and audiobooks help you learn the core subject matter in 20% of the time that it takes to read a typical book. Life is short, so explore a multitude of fascinating historical, biographical, scientific, political, and financial topics in only an hour each. Nellie Bly, born Elizabeth Jane Cochran, 1864 to 1922, was an American journalist. Bly is considered a vanguard of investigative journalism and is famed for her exposés. Bly was born in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania, her father, a judge and landowner, was the founder of the town, today part of the Pittsburgh suburb of Burrell Township, Armstrong County. Bly attended boarding school for one term, but after the death of her father in 1870, she was forced to drop out due to lack of funds. Ten years later, Bly’s mother moved her and her family to Pittsburgh. Bly got her start in journalism when she wrote a scathing response under the pseudonym ‘Lonely Orphan Girl’ to a Pittsburgh Dispatch newspaper article entitled ‘What Girls Are Good For’ stating women's key priorities should be bearing children and keeping house. The editor of the Pittsburgh Dispatch was impressed with her passion and skill and ran an advertisement asking the author to identify herself. When Bly introduced herself to the editor, he offered her the opportunity to write another ‘Lonely Orphan Girl’ piece for the newspaper. Bly wrote ‘The Girl Puzzle’ argued for reforms of divorce laws, once again the editor was impressed and offered Bly a full-time job. The piece that brought Bly lasting renown was ‘Ten Days in a Mad-House’, the exposé of Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum. Bly feigned insanity and had herself committed into the notorious asylum and once inside, wrote her piece of the terrible conditions of the patients and the deplorable treatment they received. The piece caused a sensation and prompted the asylum to implement major reforms. Bly followed this up with a record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, writing various articles and essays along the way, further cementing her legacy as both an investigative journalist and an audacious adventurer.

35 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 17, 2019

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is only one of many 60 minute reads. Excellent, direct to the point writing and coverage of the topic. All nonfiction books.