A Bold Proposal
In 1887, Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was a young journalist who had moved to New York City after leaving the Pittsburgh Dispatch. She faced months of rejection from editors unwilling to hire a woman as a reporter.
Determined to pursue serious investigative work, she approached the offices of Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World. The editors agreed to give her an extraordinary assignment: to feign insanity and go undercover to investigate conditions at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island, now known as Roosevelt Island.
Getting Inside
To be admitted, Bly checked into a boarding house called “Temporary Homes for Females.” She stayed awake through the night to give herself a disturbed, wide-eyed look. She frightened other boarders by claiming they were insane and refused to sleep.
The assistant matron called the police. Bly was examined by a judge, a police officer, and a doctor, who declared her insane. She was first taken to Bellevue Hospital, then transferred by boat to the asylum on Blackwell’s Island. Her real identity remained unknown to everyone involved.
Ten Days Inside
Once committed, Bly experienced the asylum’s reality firsthand. Patients endured ice-cold baths, spoiled food, and verbal and physical mistreatment. Many women appeared to be sane but were unable to secure release once admitted. Bly stayed for ten days, carefully observing every detail.
Her objective was to document what happened without revealing her undercover status. After the World intervened, she was released from the institution.
Publication and Reaction
On October 9, 1887, The New York World published her exposé, which was later expanded into the book Ten Days in a Mad-House. The articles caused a sensation. The conditions she described shocked readers and brought public attention to the treatment of women in mental institutions.
Authorities launched investigations, and reforms were implemented shortly afterward to improve conditions at the asylum. The investigation established Bly’s reputation as one of the leading undercover reporters of her time. She was only twenty-three years old when she conducted the assignment.
In 1887 New York, a young reporter prepared for a story no one else dared to attempt.
Nellie Bly, just 23, set out to infiltrate a notorious asylum by pretending to be insane.
What she uncovered inside would stun the city and change her career overnight…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/Az1nnCIg3r
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) October 17, 2025