Nellie Bly

Today in Mighty Girl history, Nellie Bly, trailblazing investigative journalist and adventurer extraordinaire, was born in 1864. One of the earliest muckraking journalists, Bly was famous for her undercover investigative reports on corruption and social injustices, as well as for her record-setting around the world trip in the style of Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days."

Born Elizabeth Jane Cochrane in Pennsylvania in 1864, she adopted the name "Nellie Bly" as a pen name after a fierce rebuttal to a misogynistic newspaper article (where working women were called "a monstrosity") impressed the editor and resulted in a job offer for Bly at the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Her early work often focused on working women, including a series on female factory workers. She also spent six months as a foreign correspondent in Mexico but left the country after being threatened with arrest for criticizing the Porfirio Díaz regime.

Seeking new challenges, Bly went to New York in 1887 and took an undercover assignment for the New York World where she feigned insanity to get herself committed to the New York City Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. Her work pioneered the realm of undercover journalism after she wrote an exposé on the horrific conditions and mistreatment of patients she found there. Bly's series of articles led to a grand jury investigation and, subsequently, to improved care for the patients and increased funding for the care of people with mental illness.

Bly's undercover investigation made her famous and her fame continued when in 1889 she took on the assignment of replicating the fictional "Around the World in Eighty Days" voyage. The 24,899-mile journey attracted much media attention and public interest. Her travels, completed largely via steamship and railroad, took seventy-two days, six hours, eleven minutes, and fourteen seconds -- setting a world record.

Bly went on to become the president of her husband's iron manufacturing company, receive several different patents for inventions (under her married name of Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman), and work towards the improvement of orphanages, as well as further journalism assignments. In 1998, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Nellie Bly's famous series was complied into the book, "Ten Days in a Mad-House," which is still in print and available at http://amzn.to/1lS5at6

There are several excellent books for young readers about Bly's remarkable life including: "The Daring Nellie Bly" for ages 5 to 8 (http://www.amightygirl.com/the-daring-nellie-bly), "It Can't Be Done Nellie Bly: A Reporter's Race Around the World" for ages 7 to 10 (http://www.amightygirl.com/it-can-t-be-done-nellie-bly), “Bylines: A Photobiography of Nellie Bly" for ages 10 to 13 (http://www.amightygirl.com/bylines-a-photobiography-of-nellie-bly), and "Nellie Bly: A Name to be Reckoned With" for ages 7 to 11 (http://www.amightygirl.com/nellie-bly-a-name-to-be-reckoned-with).

Bly is also one of 12 adventurous women featured in "Rebel in a Dress: Adventurers," for ages 8 to 12 athttp://www.amightygirl.com/rebel-in-a-dress-adventurers

For more true stories of trailblazing girls and women throughout history, visit our "Biography" section athttp://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography

And, to ignite your Mighty Girl’s interest in traveling the world, visit our "Geography Toys" section at http://www.amightygirl.com/toys/toys-games/geography-history?cat=636

source: https://www.facebook.com/amightygirl?fref=photo