1. Elizabeth Jane Cochrane Seaman
Nellie Bly
Elizabeth Jane Cochrane Seaman

2. Early Life: Cochran’s Mills, PA
Elizabeth Jane Cochran: born in Cochran’s Mills, Pennsylvania, on May 5, 1864
Town founded by her father, Michael Cochran, who supported the family as a judge and landowner
1870: father’s unexpected death left family without money; he left them without a will or a legal claim to his estate
Mother, Mary Jane, soon remarried for financial security
Marriage ended in divorce; he was abusive and a drunk
Elizabeth attended Indiana Normal School to become a teacher, but could not afford tuition and left after one semester.
Early Life: Cochran’s Mills, PA

3. Journalistic Beginning: The Pittsburgh Dispatch
Moved to Pittsburgh with her mother where they ran a boarding house
January 1885: Cochran wrote an angry response to an editorial in The Pittsburgh Dispatch titled “What Girls are Good For”
She signed her reply “Little Orphan Girl”
Editor, George Madden, was impressed by her spirit and offered her a job
First article published in The Pittsburgh Dispatch was titled “The Girl Puzzle” under the pen name Nellie Bly
Earned $5/week writing about the plight of working women

4. On Assignment: Mexico
To avoid writing about gardening, fashion, and society, Bly resigned from The Pittsburgh Dispatch
Escaped to Mexico, writing of her travels to Madden who published her reports on the women’s pages
Focus changed from the lives and customs of the Mexican people to a protest of the Mexican government
Under threat of arrest, she left Mexico, later publishing her accounts in her book Six Months in Mexico.

5. Journalism Career: New York World
1887: Bly relocated to New York City in search of a meaningful career
Talked her way into the office of Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World
First assignment: write a story about the mentally ill housed at a large institution in New York City
Undercover as a mentally ill patient for 10 days at the notorious asylum on Blackwell’s Island
“Behind Asylum Bars” and “Inside the Mad-House” created an uproar in New York and led to change at the asylum
Pioneer of investigative journalism

6. Journalism Career: Most Famous Story
1889: Record-breaking trip around the world in emulation of Jules Verne’s character, Phileas Fogg
Traveled alone on the ocean liner Augusta Victoria with only 2 bags, departed on November 14, 1889, at 9:40 am
New York > England > Egypt > Ceylon > Singapore > Hong Kong > Japan > San Francisco > New York City
Total distance: 21,740 miles
72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes, 14 seconds
Met Jules Verne in France; he encouraged her to break his fictional record
Around the World in 72 Days (1890)—Bly’s book about her record-setting achievement

7. Around the World in 72 Days

8. Marriage to Robert Seaman:
Despite the increase in circulation, Bly did not receive a bonus from the World leading her to resign
1895: Nellie Bly married millionaire manufacturer Robert Seaman (age 70)
President of the Iron Clad Manufacturing Co., which made steel containers such as milk cans and boilers
Received patents for a milk can and stacking garbage can under her married name
1904: husband died; she became one of the leading female industrialists in the United States
1914: embezzlement by employees forced her into bankruptcy

9. Later Years: 1914: traveled to Europe to visit a friend
Outbreak of WWI—Bly became America’s first female war correspondent, writing articles on her experiences at the war’s front lines
1919: re-entered the newspaper industry, working for the New York Evening Journal
Died from pneumonia at St. Mark’s Hospital in New York City on January 27, 1922
Buried in a modest grave at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx
1998: inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame
Later Years:

10. Influential Legacy:
Nellie Bly Amusement Park in Brooklyn, New York, taking as its theme Around the World in Eighty Days
From early in the 20th century until 1961, the Pennsylvania Railroad operated a parlor-car only express train between New York and Atlantic City, named Nellie Bly
“Nellie Bly Cub Reporter” journalism award from New York Press Club acknowledges the best journalistic effort by an individual with 3 years or less professional experience
2002: one of four journalists honored with a U.S. postage stamp in a “Women in Journalism” set
Inspiration for the character Katherine Plumber from the musical adaptation of Disney’s Newsies
Fictionalized as a mouse named Nellie Brie in An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster
The character of Lana Winters in “American Horror Story: Asylum” is inspired by Bly’s experience in the asylum

11. On May 5, 2015, Bly’s 151st birthday, Google celebrated Nellie’s birthday by dedicating the day’s Google doodle to her.