Nellie Bly, Woman Reporter

In the inner cities, tenements were everywhere. Poor people became poorer as diseases ravaged in these cramped spaces, and those who wanted a better life were often kicked back to the ground.

Elizabeth Jane Cochran (later known as Elizabeth Jane Cochrane) lived in this world. But she had not always. She was born to a fairly wealthy family in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania, in 1864. She was home schooled, except for a short time in a boarding school, and was well off.

However, her father died shortly after her sixth birthday. Because there was no will, Elizabeth was forced to move to a more modest home. Her mother married again shortly, probably to secure a better home for her family, but the man Mrs. Cochran married was abusive.

Soon enough, she was at a point in her life when she needed to work or marry. In that day and age, women were given few job opportunities, and Elizabeth did not wish to marry for money, like her mother had. So, after looking around everywhere she could, she found no work that could possibly pay rent.

One day, she saw an editorial in the Pittsburgh Dispatch. It was a truly sexist editorial, telling about where a woman's "place" was. Immediately, she fired off a response, signing it "Lonely Orphan Girl."

The editor of the Dispatch was amazed by this article. Looking over the spelling and grammatical errors, he saw Elizabeth's true potential. Soon enough, he placed an ad in the paper for this "Lonely Orphan Girl" to come to the newspaper. Elizabeth came and received her job as a reporter. Before she could do that, however, she needed a pen name. Monikers were fairly common for reporters, and Elizabeth was after all, a woman. And wouldn't it be just horrid for a woman to write for a newspaper and have the world know her name? It is said that he heard an assistant humming a popular song, titled "Nelly Bly." The editor chose this, but spelling errors ensued and Elizabeth's new moniker was the famous, "Nellie Bly."

Focusing on women's rights and the poor's suffering, Nellie spewed out article after articles. Like any daring reporter, she was often told to "please write something else." Her exploits often angered the rich, and she did a lot of womanly articles about flowers and nonsense. Though, when she did get to do something daring, she did it well. An expert and detective work, she disguised herself plenty to get her exploits. Once, she even went to Mexico on a six-month vacation! Nellie wrote amazingly, but she dreamed much, much bigger.

A popular paper of the day was The New York World. She dreamed for this job, but it's true that she probably would've excepted a job from another paper if she had been offered.

Dreams are not easy to achieve, as Ms. Cochrane found out. She dreamed big, and she would have to go big. To even get noticed, Nellie had to fast-talk her way into the editor's office. She wasted no time talking about her thoughts on the paper and possible articles. Soon enough, in 1887, she got the job! But her first exploit was not going to be easy.

Blackwell's Island stood not to far from the city, in the water. It was a mental asylum, and shrouded in mystery. What was a better exploit for Nellie than to disguise herself as insane and be admitted? It was dangerous and daring, but Bly accepted.

After a week of being on the Island, Nellie learned about the horrors. She uncovered many things, which lead to reforms. But this was just her first job: she soon asked to compete to travel the world in eighty days, a feat seemingly impossible back then. She managed it in seventy days.

More articles followed, showing the plight of the city. She exposed corrupted politicians, horrible living conditions, and the plight of women.

Finally, in April 1895, Nellie Bly retired from journalism. No doubt she needed a break, after all, she had worked since she was in her twenties! Marrying a man forty years her senior, named Robert Livingston Seaman. He was rich, and they stayed married for ten years, until he died. The marriage was often said to be less than happy, but know one will ever really know. From then on, Elizabeth worked running Iron Clad Manufacturing, her husband's company. As a journalist, Elizabeth knew little about banking and accounting knowledge, and the company soon became bankrupt.

Escaping her financial issues in England, Elizabeth was not prepared for World War One to break out. Nor did she expect to report it from behind the scenes. But soon, her mother's health was in critical condition, and she returned to America.

She picked up her work again, this time at the New York Evening Journal. She worked there until she died in 1922.

Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, or Nellie Bly, is an amazing journalist who will no doubt be remembered fondly.