Results: Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, also known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was one of the first female investigative reporters in the US. ** Part One **

Bly was born Elizabeth. Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864, in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania. The town was founded by her father, Michael Cochran, who provided for his family by working as a judge and landowner. Bly suffered a tragic loss in 1870, at the age of six, when her father died suddenly. Amid their grief, Michael's death presented a grave financial detriment to his family, as he left them without a will, and, thus, no legal claim to his estate. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took possession of the property. Bly later enrolled at the Indiana Normal School, a small college in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where she studied to become a teacher. However, not long after beginning her courses there, financial constraints forced Bly to table her hopes for higher education. After leaving the school, she moved with her mother to the nearby city of Pittsburgh, where they ran a boarding house together. Do you have an up to date Will?

Bly's future began to look brighter in the early 1880s, when, at the age of 18, she submitted a racy response to an editorial piece that had been published in the Pittsburgh Dispatch. In the piece, writer Erasmus Wilson (known to Dispatch readers as the "Quiet Observer," or Q.O.) claimed that women were best served by conducting domestic duties and called the working woman "a monstrosity." Bly crafted a fiery rebuttal that grabbed the attention of the paper's managing editor, George Madden, who, in turn, offered her a position. Are you surprised that Mr. Wilson offered her a position after claiming women are not suited to be in the workforce?

In 1885, Bly began working as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch at a rate of $5 per week. Taking on the pen name by which she's best known, after a Stephen Foster song, The average man was making $11 a week, the average woman was making $4 a week. Nellie was being paid slightly higher than average at that time. The disparity in wages between men and women still exists in every industry today. Do you think women will ever realize wage parity?

Nellie sought to highlight the negative consequences of sexist ideologies and the importance of women's rights issues. She also became renowned for her investigative and undercover reporting, including posing as a sweatshop worker to expose poor working conditions faced by women. However, the newspaper soon received complaints from factory owners about her writing, and she was reassigned to women's pages to cover fashion, society, and gardening, the usual role for women journalists, and she became dissatisfied. She aspired to find a more meaningful career. Have you read any books or seen any films or documentaries about Nellie Bly?

As an exceptional female journalist, she was undeterred by the Pittsburgh Dispatch, and set off to Mexico, where she spent six months writing. She released her first book, which was an accumulation of her pieces called, "Six Months in Mexico" detailing the life and culture of the people of Mexico. One piece focused on the imprisonment of a Mexican journalist who was behind bars after speaking ill of the Mexican government. Bly was threatened with imprisonment, and fled the country. Would you take the risks that Nellie took for a story?

Soon after her return, she flew the constraining coop of Pittsburgh, leaving behind a note, "I am off for New York. Look out for me. —Bly" In Part Two you will discover her ground breaking work in New York! Were you aware of Nellie Bly before this survey?