A little background: Upon Nellie's admittance into working for the newspaper, The World, Colonel John A. Cockerill commissioned her to fake insanity and get herself committed into the women's asylum.
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Inside the asylum, Bly observed patients, interviewed them, and wrote about how badly they were treated. She wrote about her own awful experience of getting a bath:
"The water was ice-cold and I began to protest...My teeth chattered and my limbs were goose-fleshed and blue with cold. Suddenly I got, one after the other, three buckets of water over my head- ice-cold water, too, into my eyes, my ears, my nose, and my mouth. I think I experienced some of the sensations of a drowning person as they dragged me, gasping, shivering, and quaking, from the tub. For once I did look insane..." (1).
The World directed Bly to investigate the asylum after "frequent reports of shocking abuses...but no direct evidence on the subject had been given out to the public" (2).
In fact, in the two months before Nellie's admittance into the asylum, all of the newspapers were full of stories of asylum abuses at the city's various institutions. The World ran two editorials, July 3 and July 9, demanding investigation of maltreatment of patients at various charitable and penal institutions.
The Sun played the story as a mystery, putting it in the lead right-hand column of the front page on September 25. The headline read, "Who is this Insane Girl?... The article reported contradictions in her apparent disorientation and her background history" (2).
Dr. William C. Braisted, head of the insane asylum, gave his diagnosis to the New York Herald. "She never seems to be restless. Her delusions, her dull apathetic condition, the muscular twitching of her hands and arms and her loss of memory, all indicate hysteria" (1).
The next day, The Evening Telegram reported that she was "undoubtedly insane." The New York Times wrote of the "mysterious waif" with the "wild, hunted look in her eyes" (3).
The doctors would later feel sheepish, however, when they would find out about Bly's exceptional trickery and her impeccable ability to serve as a journalistic watchdog.
Inside the bare walls of the asylum, Bly witnessed how nurses abused the patients: "The nurses returned to the waiting room and grabbed hold of an old, gray-haired woman...My heart ached as she cried, "For God's sake, ladies, don't let them beat me." "Shut up, you hussy!" said nurse Grady as she caught the woman by her gray hair and dragged her shrieking and pleading from the room" (4).
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After ten days, on Tuesday, October 4, The World sent attorney Peter A. Hendricks to arrange for Miss Bly's release into the care of friends who were willing to take responsibility for her (4).
The Sun reported her release in a brief paragraph on October 7. The Times provided a longer account, in which it concluded that her treatment for mental depression had achieved "gratifying results" and with further care, her reason could be restored (1).
(correctionhistory.org)
Two days later, editorial fury and embarrassment was at its peak when the first installment of Bly's report appeared in The World. Before Bly could get into print the continuation of her account, The Sun produced its own version of her experiences. However, this was all the better for Bly and for The World- Bly got her first boost into legend. In tall, heavy black type, The Sun led its front page with the headline:
PLAYING MAD WOMAN
Nellie Bly Too Sharp for the Island Doctors
Nine Days 'Life in Calico'
The Sun Finishes Up its Story of the "Pretty Crazy Girl."
(correctionhistory.org)
Nellie Bly Too Sharp for the Island Doctors
Nine Days 'Life in Calico'
The Sun Finishes Up its Story of the "Pretty Crazy Girl."
The Sun included rumors after Bly's release that Nellie Bly actually was a pretender. The Sun, rival newspaper of The World ultimately settled on calling her "the heroine of the adventure" (3). The story further detailed reactions of doctors and staff as they tried to explain how so many professionals could have done so much wrong.
The World reported whole sections of the story under a gloating headline the next day:
THEY TRY TO EXPLAIN NELLIE BLY's STAY IN THE INSANE ASYLUM
Six Columns of Excuses, Apologies, Defenses - Somebody Ought to Have Found Out that the Plucky Representative of "The World" Was Not Insane, of Course, but Nobody Is to Blame, as Usual.
(correctionhistory.org)
 (correctionhistory.org) |
News of Bly's story traveled all around North America, with countless papers applauding her achievement. The World printed excerpts from as many papers as it could,with most of the comments focusing on "how frightening it was that so many experts could be fooled by a girl with no special training or rehearsal performing a lunatic charade" (5).
The story greatly embarrassed New York City officials into taking action. They launched an investigation and approved additional funds to improve the treatment of the mentally ill. The commissioners acknowledged how "overcrowded and entirely inadequate" these institutions had become, reaching a point where "relief has become imperative." They requested funds for a new building to accommodate staff so that they wouldn't have to share living quarter with the inmates. They also asked for new bathrooms and wanted to turn old buildings into places for workshops and amusement halls.
Two weeks after Bly's report appeared, she accompanied a panel to again investigate the conditions in the asylum. Bly went on to report that "many of the abuses had been corrected, the foreign patients had been transferred away, the food services and sanitary conditions had been improved, and the hateful nurses and attendants had disappeared" (2). Additional funding for institutions came "on the strength of her story" (2).
In the years ahead, Bly continued to expose both corruption, the injustice of poverty, the ways in which women prisoners were treated by the police, the inadequate medical care given to the poor, and much more. Bly's personality was always part of her stories and she injected her observations, feelings, and reactions into whatever subject she was covering.
At only 23 years old, Bly had opened the door to a new kind of undercover, investigative journalism, which her peers called "stunt reporting" (5).
In summary, Nellie Bly was an amazing woman and journalist, who instilled courage and determination into many women and men of her time. Future research might look into her other various accomplishments and the impacts they had on American society. In addition, further research might look into other exceptional woman journalists during the time of the Nellie Bly.
Audio: The Nellie Bly Song
(correctionhistory.org)
References
(1)
McCollum,
Sean. "Nellie Bly." , Daredevil Reporter. Junior
Scholastic, 8 Feb. 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4961>.
(2)
Kroeger,
Brooke. "NYCHS: Nellie Bly -- In Blackwell's Island Asylum." NY Correction History Society. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.correctionhistory.org/rooseveltisland/bly/html/blackwell.html>.
(3)
Streitmatter,
Rodger. Mightier than the Sword: How
the News Media Have Shaped American History. 1st ed. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2008. Print.
(4)
"Nellie
Bly." PBS. PBS. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/world/peopleevents/pande01.html>.
(5)
Munro,
Ian. "Ten Days in a Mad-House." Ten Days in a Mad-House. Ian Munro. Web.
01 Mar. 2012.
<http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html>.
(6)
Bly,
Nellie. Ten Days in a Mad-house. [United Kingdom]:
Dodo, 2008. Print.
