Nellie Bly
Muckraking stunt journalist, World Traveler
Nellie suggested to her editor that she take a trip around the world following the route in the novel Around the World in 80 Days.
On November 12, 1889, Nellie heard the good news- she was going on her trip! She packed two valises with only essentials: two traveling caps, three veils, a pair of slippers, a complete outfit of toilet articles, ink-stand, pens, pencils, and copy-paper, pins, needles and thread, a dressing gown, a tennis blazer, a small flask and a drinking cup, several complete changes of underwear, a liberal supply of handkerchiefs and fresh ruchings and most bulky and a jar of cold cream to keep my face from chapping "in the varied climates I should encounter." She purchased a blue travel gown, a Scotch ulster overcoat, a light raincoat, and a hat. She was determined to show women could pack light and travel on their own without help.
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| Nellie packs for her trip |
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| Goodbye New York! |
There she heard Jules Verne wanted to meet her so she raced to Amiens. She didn't speak French and he didn't speak much English but Mr. Verne and his wife were quite delighted to meet her. He even showed Nellie his study and they compared her route to Phileas Fogg's.
[Susanna's note: Read an account of her journey with her own words and visuals at the Heinz History Center website.]
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Nellie traveled by steamships and railroads sending back short dispatches that were often delayed by weeks. She faced seasickness at first but soon recovered and made many new friends.
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Her trip went through England, France, Brindisi, Italy, then through the Suez Canal, on to Asia through Colombo (Ceylon), the Straits Settlements of Penang and Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. In Ceylon she tried the local food. In Singapore Nellie bought a macaque she named McGinty. He became her friend and traveling companion for the rest of the journey.
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She faced a monsoon but still arrived in Hong
Kong ahead of schedule! As her trip went on, Nellie became very famous back
home. Officers on the Oceanic had written the following
couplet all over the engine room:
“For Nellie Bly,
We’ll win or die.
January 20, 1890.”
Nellie arrived in San Francisco on January 21 only to learn blizzards stopped the Central Pacific Railroad.
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| Nellie Bly and McGinty in San Francisco |
No trains could get through for days. It was the worst snow the railroad had ever seen!
Nellie was worried she wouldn't make it home in 80 days but she decided to go south through the desert across the new territories of Arizona and New Mexico with everyone cheering her on. She went through Kansas, Chicago, Indiana, Pennsylavia with crowds greeting her, cheering her on. She waved her cap and was soon on her way again.
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| Nellie waves to the crowds |
On January 25, 1890 at 3:51 p.m. Nellie's train chugged into Jersey City, New Jersey. Her journey was now over after 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes, and 14 seconds! Canons boomed at Battery Park and boats in the Hudson River tooted their whistles as Nellie beat her own goal by 3 days!
As Nellie travelled, the newspaper held a guessing contest to see how many days it would take Nellie to arrive home.
Nellie was so popular, advertisers used her likeness to sell all manner of products, including this game from McLoughlin Brothers, based on a game board that appeared in the New York World.
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| Around the World With Nellie Bly board game |
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| Day 73. I win! |
When Nellie returned home she was a hero to many people! She thought she would get paid more money but her male editors refused to pay her more. She said "I quit!" and walked away from the paper. She went on a lecture tour, wrote a book about her adventures, and wrote fiction serials for a the New York Family Story Paper.
Three years later Nellie came back to work for the World writing about Pullman Palace car workers on strike. Then she took a job with the Chicago Times-Herald. Five weeks later she quit to get married! (Her husband is even older than my GrandMary. I think he tried to court GrandMary once but her heart belonged to Grandfather Samuel and now Admiral Beemis.) It was a big shock to all Nellie's friends and family. She kept writing for awhile and even interviewed Susan B. Anthony! Now she is living here in New York as a wealthy widow running a business of some sort. Perhaps my cousin Susanna will come and tell you about it. For now, that is all.
Thank you for listening to my presentation!
Sources:
Sue Macy, Bylines: A Photobiography of Nellie Bly, Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2009.
Jeffrey Orens, "Persperation vs. Inspiration: The Journalistic Genius of Ida Tarbell and Nellie Bly,"Western Pennsylvania History, Summer 2020 p. 32
Caroline Starr Rose, A Race Around the World: The Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland, Chicago: Albert Whitman & Co., 2019
Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Many thanks to the PoohBear parents for checking it out and bringing back information for Samantha and for buying the reproduction game).
Samantha's mini game board comes from Samantha's World: A Girl's Eye View of the 20th Century, American Girl, 2009.
Tonya Mitchell, "Ten Little Known Facts About Nellie Bly", https://www.tonyamitchellauthor.com/post/ten-little-known-facts-about-nellie-bly
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