A full life

Jules Verne’s book Around The World in 80 Days was published in December 1872. It must have taken an immense imagination, not to mention years of research, to put that novel together.

And yet, seventeen years later, and with only two days’ notice, an American woman, named Nellie Bly, boarded a steamship in New York with the aim of besting Jules Verne’s 80 days. I could talk about Nelly Bly’s trip, and the adventures and incidents she faced along the way, but instead I’m going to talk about Elizabeth Jane Cochran.

Born in May 1864, in Pennsylvania, US, Elizabeth Cochran was one of 15 children. Sadly her father died when she was six. I have little doubt these two facts are among the main reasons Elizabeth grew into a strong-willed, independently-minded young woman. In 1885, at 19 years of age, Elizabeth Cochran began writing for the Pittsburgh Dispatch, initially as an occasional columnist, but later as a staff reporter.

Later, she became an overseas correspondent, and was posted to Mexico where, it’ll come as no great surprise to learn, a strong-willed, independently-minded female reporter with forthright views was not well received by the Mexican Government. After being in post for less than a year, Elizabeth Cochran had to make a hasty retreat back to the US after her critical articles gained traction in the US; the Mexican authorities began to make things difficult for her and her life became threatened.

In 1887 Elizabeth Cochran talked her way into an undercover assignment in a mental institution. She feigned insanity and was committed as an inmate. Her purpose was to investigate reports of brutality and neglect at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. Elizabeth Cochran’s eventual report on the appalling treatment, the mental and physical abuses she witnessed, had repercussions in that mental institution and across the wider United States. These events make Elizabeth one of (if not the) earliest female investigative reporters.

In 1895 (I’ve skipped huge amounts of this amazing woman’s story), Elizabeth married industrialist Robert Seaman. When they married she was 31 , Seaman was 73. When his health began to fail she took over the running of his manufacturing company. Elizabeth changed the way the company was run, and started offering health benefits and recreational facilities; these were not common in the US at that time.

After the outbreak of the First World War, Elizabeth returned to journalism; she moved to Europe and wrote Great War dispatches from the front lines across Europe.

And earlier, back in 1889 and under her journalistic pseudonym of Nellie Bly, she left New York on a steamer and beat Jules Verne’s Around The World in 80 days, completing the book’s journey in 72 days. And she was able to meet Jules Verne on her journey.