Monday’s Marvelous Moden Woman: Nellie Bly
Exposing the Horror of the Asylums
I said I could, and I would; and I did.
Bio
She was born in Cochran’s Mill in Pennsylvania, she was the 13th daughter of Michael Cochran, a mill owner postmaster, and associate justice for the county.
Growing up her favorite color was pink, and the preference earned her the nickname Pink.
At least until she became a teenager and wanted to appear more sophisticated, she dropped the nickname and started using her father’s surname.
Her first foray into the world of journalism came in response to a piece in the Pittsburg Dispatch titled “What Girls Are Good For.” It was about exactly what you think.
But her well-reasoned and witty response opened the door to more “columns” under her pseudonym “Lonely Orphan Girl.”
Little did she know at the time where the lonely orphan girl would go. First to an asylum and then around the world.
Stunt Girl Journalism
They were a new breed of journalist emerged: plucky, clever, and dedicated less to flaunting her “natal mind” than to exposing…
