Forks of the Ohio
Sergeant
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2019
Nelly Bly was a pioneering investigative journalist who worked for Joseph Pulitzer.
In 1887, she convinced law enforcement officers that she was mentally ill so that she would be admitted as a patient to the hospital on Blackwell's Island, which is now Roosevelt Island in New York City. She remained as a patient at the hospital for ten days. She wrote an expose for the New York World about the institution's horrendous conditions. Per this Washington Post article, an organization in NYC is going to install a statue in her honor on Roosevelt Island.
The Washington Post only allows non-subscribers to view a limited amount of "free" articles. So, here is a link to another article about Nellie Bly's pending statue.
I am interested in Nellie Bly because she is a Western Pennsylvania native and she started her reporting career in Pittsburgh.
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) installed a historical marker in front of Bly's childhood home in Apollo, PA. I think that this is purely a coincidence, but this PHMC marker for Bly's childhood home is on the same street in Apollo as actor Jimmy Stuart's maternal grandfather's Victorian house. As this prior CWT post notes, Jimmy Stuart's maternal grandfather was an officer in the Civil War. (I only know this because this particular house was for sale a few years ago, and I toured it at an open house. I parked in front of Nellie Bly's PHMC marker.)
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