1887 – 1888
In 1887, Nellie Bly moved to New York City and began her most heralded era as a reporter writing for Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper The World. She began with a historic expose of an insane asylum, following up with articles on the trafficking of babies, a crooked lobbyist bribing state officials, interviews with the First Ladies of the United States and more!
Listed below are the dates and titles for all of Nellie’s World articles from 1887 to 1888, along with the descriptive summary provided for each. Click on the “VIEW ARTICLE” button for images of these articles in their original newspaper setting. Special thanks to the staff at Doe Library at the University of California – Berkeley for their assistance in currating this material. Please return as more images of articles will be posted over time.
A complete collection of the 34 articles Nellie Bly wrote for The World during this time period can be found in THE NELLIE BLY COLLECTION: Volume III – The World (1887-1888).
October 9, 1887
BEHIND ASYLUM BARS
The Mystery of the Unknown Insane Girl. – REMAKABLE STORY OF THE SUCCESSFUL IMPERSONATION OF SANITY. – How Nellie Brown Deceived Judges, Reporters and Medical Experts. – SHE TELLS HER STORY OF HOW SHE PASSED AT BELLVUE HOSPITAL.
October 16, 1887
INSIDE THE MADHOUSE
Nellie Bly’s Experience in the Blackwell’s Island Asylum. – CONTINUATION OF THE STORY OF TEN DAYS WITH LUNATICS. – How the City’s Unfortunate Wards Are Fed and Treated. – THE TERRORS OF COLD BATHS AND CRUEL, UNSYMPATHETIC NURSES. Attendants Who Harass and Abuse Patients and Laugh at Their Miseries.
October 17, 1887
UNTRUTHS IN EVERY LINE
NELLIE BLY CONTRADICTS A RECENT ARTICLE IN THE “SUN.” – She Gives Many Additional Facts About Her Remarkable Sojourn on Blackwell’s Island—More Praise for Dr. Ingram—He is the Right Man in the Right Place—The Other Doctors Heartless and Careless.
October 30, 1887
TRYING TO BE A SERVANT
NELLIE BLY’S STRANGE EXPERIENCE AT TWO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES. – She Pays a Dollar to the Agent and is Guaranteed a Situation-She Has No References-The Agent Knows Nothing of Her Character—Nevertheless, He Declares to a Customer that She Possess All the Virtues in the Calendar—Can a Common Thief Thus Recommended Get Service in New York Homes?—How Applicants Are Treated—The Agency Sure to Make Money Whether the Girls Get Places or Not—The Out-of-Town Trick—A Weary Waiting for Work—Queer Experiences.
November 6, 1887
WHAT BECOMES OF BABIES
HUNDREDS OF LITTLE ONES GIVEN AWAY YEARLY. – Not the prettied darlings of the Rich, but the Infants Born to Shame—These Are the Ones that Are Given Into Alien Hands—Regular Traffic In New-Born Babies—A Money-Making Trade In Humanity.
November 27, 1887
THE GIRLS WHO MAKE BOXES
NELLIE BLY TELLS HOW IT FEELS TO BE A WHITE SLAVE. – She Tries Her Hand at Making Paper Boxes—Difficulty in Getting a Job—Must Work Two Weeks For Nothing—After One Learns the trade It Is Hard to Earn a Living—A Fair Picture of the Work.
December 4, 1887
WANTED-A FEW HUSBANDS
NELLIE BLY’S STRANGE EXPERIENCE AT A NOTED MATRIMONIAL AGENCY. – Some of the Men Were Bashful, Some Were Bold, Some Poor and Some Rich, But All Were “the Favorites of Their Circle”—Queer Letters—Husbands That Cost $100 Quick Proposals—Meeting One’s Fate.
December 18, 1887
LEARNING BALLET DANCING
NELLIE BLY IN SHORT GAUZE SKIRTS KICKS AT A MARK. – How it Feels to Go About in an Abbreviated Costume—Making Her Outfit—Holding on a Bar to Practice – Why It Is Healthful-Comments of the Old Professor—It Seems Easy, but Requires Much Hard Work.
January 8, 1888
IN QUAINT OLD ECONOMY
THERE DWELLS A SECT WITH MORE MILLIONS THAN MEMBERS. – Of the Thousand Who Followed George Rapp to America in 1805 Eighteen Now Remain—They Think the World Will End Before the Last of Them Dies—Quiet and Simple Life in a Pennsylvania Village.
January 29, 1888
THE CRUST-DROPPER’S GAME
NELLIE BLY DISCOVERS A NEW VERSION OF A VERY OLD MENDICANT FRAUD. – One of the Many Tricks Invented to Give Smart Lazy Men a Good Living—To Do It Successfully a Man Must Be a Facial Artist and Do Lightning Changes—The Game is Worked Only on Women.
February 12, 1888
IN THE MAGDALEN’S HOME
NELLIE BLY’S VISIT TO AN INSTITUTION FOR UNFORTUNATE WOMEN. – A Wicked Girl’s Chances for Reformation—How Poor Creatures Abuse a Noble Charity—Matron Burr’s Experiences—The Girl Who Befriended an Unlucky Cat—The Toboggan Slide of Sin.
March 4, 1888
IN NELLIE BLY ON THE STAGE
SHE WEARS A SCANT COSTUME AND MARCHES WITH THE AMAZONS. – It Isn’t Very Hard to Get Such a Job—The Girls Earn $5 a Week—Tights that Did Not Fit—Dressing in a Crowded Room—How She Behaved on the Stage—A Bad Beginning.
March 25, 1888
NELLIE BLY AS A MESMERIST
THE STRANGE AND AWFUL EXPERIENCE OF A CERTAIN MR. GRAY. – He Consents to Allow the Learner of Mesmerism to Practice on Him and Undergoes Horrible Torture—The Professor Believes Nellie Bly to be a Kind of Feminine Fiend—How She Got Even with Him—Secrets of the Black Art
April 1, 1888
THE KING OF THE LOBBY
EDWARD R. PHELPS CAUGHT IN A NEATLY LAID TRAP. – Nellie Bly’s Interesting Experience in Albany. – HOW THE LOBBY KING CONTRACTS TO KILL BILLS FOR CASH. – Dealing with Legislators as with Purchasable Chattels. Phelps Furnishes “The World” Representative with a List of Assembly Committeemen who Are Bribable—His Agreement to Kill Assembly Bill No. 191 for $5,000—Afterwards Concludes to Take Less—The Check to Be Made Out to His Side Partner, J. W. Chesbrough—“I Have Control of the House and Can Pass or Kill Any Bill”—A Revelation of Baseness Which Should Fill the State with Indignation—The Watch Here.
May 27, 1888
NELLIE BLY’S ODD LETTERS
QUEER COMMUNICATIONS WRITTEN BY ALL KINDS OF STRANGE PEOPLE. – She Began Getting Affectionate Letters at the Tender Age of Four—Of Late Her Mail Has Not Been So Loving—Cranks Who Want Her Aid—Delightful Notes from Girls—A Singular Collection.
June 17, 1888
WHY DON’T WOMEN REFORM
NELLIE BLY ASKS THIS QUESTION OF POLICE-COURT PRISONERS. – She Spends a Day at Jefferson Market Court and Jail—Drink Seems to Be Responsible for Most of the Evil—Missionaries Apparently Can Render Little Aid—What the Women Have to Say for Themselves.
July 1, 1888
HOW TO BE CURED BY FAITH
NELLIE BLY HAS SOME EXPERIENCE WITH A “MIND HEALER.” – No Woman Is Really Ill, She Only Thinks She Is—Even Beauty Can Be Had for the Thinking—As for a Stomach, the Faith Curers Will Take That Away Entirely—A Queer Eye-Closing Séance.
July 8, 1888
GIRLS OF THE WILD WEST
NELLIE BLY GOES DOWN AND MAKES FRIENDS WITH THE RIDERS. – The Lassies of the Show Are Just Like Nice Girls Everywhere—Miss Hickok Has a Bridle Made from Hair Taken from Scalped Indians—How They Learned to Ride and Shoot Out West When Young.
August 5, 1888
THE INFAMY OF THE PARK
NELLIE BLY UNEARTHS A SCOUNDREL FAVORED BY THE POLICE. – Charles Cleveland, a Man of Leisure, Debauches Central Park to His Own Vile Uses—He Dives There Daily and Invites Young Girls to Ride—The Police Smile at Him and Assist In Getting His Prey.
August 12, 1888
WOMAN’S PART IN POLITICS
MRS. BELVA A. LOCKWOOD TALKS ABOUT HERSELF TO NELLIE BLY. – The Feminine Candidate for the Presidency of This Great Country Thinks She Has a Fighting Chance—Mrs. Cleveland, However, Is Stronger—Something About Her Home Life—Her Washington Office.
August 19, 1888
A NEW YORK VOUDOO KNAVE
NELLIE BLY’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE FAMOUS DR. BASS. – A Negro Scoundrel Who Claims to Tell Fortunes and Sell Love Charms—How he Came to Practice Voudooing—He Has a Fine Practice Among Superstitious Blacks and Ignorant Whites.
September 9, 1888
CANDIDATES WIVES
NELLIE BLY’S INTERESTING INTERVIEWS WITH THEM. – She Goes Out to Oak View to See Mrs. Cleveland. – AT COLUMBUS MRS. THURMAN TALKS IN A KIND, MOTHERLY WAY. – Mrs. Harrison, at Indianapolis, Tells of Her Happy Girlhood. – AND MRS. MORTON GOSSIPS WITH HER AT RHINEBACK ABOUT HOUSEKEEPING. – A Symposium of Four Women in Whom Everybody Is Interested Just Now—The Wives of Candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency Tell About Themselves—The Routine of Their Daily Lives—All of Them Seem to Be Women Who Typify Some of the Best Qualities of American Womanhood—Mrs. Cleveland, by Virtue of Her Public Position, May Not Talk—Kindly Mrs. Thurman Says that She Used to Make her Own Dresses and Enjoyed Doing It, Too—Mrs. Harrison First Met Her Husband When Both Were at School—She Learned to Bake Good Bread and Has Literary Tastes—Mrs. Morton Was in Society in New York Before She Was Married—She Looks After the Housekeeping and Her Family of Girls—A Peep Inside the Homes of Four Famous Women.
September 16, 1888
GAY TIMES AMONG THE HOPS
NELLIE BLY SPENDS A WEEK WITH FUN-LOVING HOP-PICKERS. – Home Workers Make Money, but “Foreigners Are Full Of Sport”—Love Among The Vines—At a Hop Dance—Good-Natured Country Gaying—Boarding and the Beds—Babies and Invalids.
September 30, 1888
HANGMAN JOE AT HOME
NELLIE BLY HAS A GHASTLY TALK WITH THE CITY EXECUTIONER. – He Has Legally Killed Fifty-Two Men and One Woman—How the Various Victims “Went”—It Costs from $75 to $300 to Hang a Man—A Horrible Scrap-Book—Opposed to Electrical Executions.
October 7, 1888
MRS. WARREN MILLER’S HOME
NELLIE BLY CHATS WITH THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE’S WIFE. – She Lives Very Simply in a Magnificent Farm-House at Herkimer—Fond of Books and Music—Does Not Care For Jewels—Her Children and Guests—Objects To Photographs of Herself and Has None.
October 28, 1888
OUR FIRST LADIES
WOMEN WHO HAVE GRACED THE WHITE HOUSE. – The Living Widows and Wives of the Presidents – PERSONAL SKETCHES OF SEVEN MISTRESSES OF THE WHITE HOUSE. – Nellie Bly Visits Their Homes and Learns the Story of their Lives – THE TRIALS AND CONSOLATIONS OF SOCIAL LEADERS AT THE NATION’S CAPITAL. – Interesting Bits of Personal Reminiscence Told for the First Time—Mrs. Tyler Narrates How She Met President Tyler and Her Engagement—Prophetic Dreams—Her Children—Mrs. Polk’s Interesting Recollections of Three-Quarters of a Century—A Day at the Famous Polk Mansion—Tomb of the Dead President—Passing Her Declining Years in Seclusion and Beloved by All—Mrs. Harriet Lane Johnston, President Buchanan’s Niece, and Her Sad Afflictions—Mrs. Grant Gives an Insight Into the Private Life of the General—Incidents of His Long Public Career That Have Never Before Been Written—Mrs. Hayes in Comfortable Retirement—Mrs. Garfield’s Quiet Life—Her Children—Entertaining Talk with Mrs. McElroy, the Mistress of the White House During President Arthur’s Term.
November 4, 1888
NELLIE BLY ON THE WING
SOME THINGS SHE SAW, HEARD AND EXPERIENCED WHILE TRAVELING. – Saidee Polk Fall’s Happy Life at the Famous Polk Homestead—A Bit of Amelia River’s Early History—Poet Riley’s Wisdom—Experience with a Southern Quarantine Officer—An Indignant Traveler.
November 11, 1888
EXPOSED BY NELLIE BLY
A SWINDLING MAGNETIC “DOCTOR” CAUGHT AT HIS TRICKS. – PROF. ERNEST DE BLANC, OF BROOKLYN, PROVES TO BE A NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL. – He Has Advertised to Give a Big Free Exhibition To-Night, but “The World’s” Active Reporter Discovered Him Just in Time—His Ingeniously Secreted Electric Wires by Which He Demonstrates his “Personal Magnetism”—A Long Criminal Career in Half a Dozen Big Cities—Convicted of Forgery at New Orleans—His Brilliant Advertising Schemes.
November 11, 1888
SHOULD WOMEN PROPOSE?
NELLIE BLY ADVANCES ARGUMENTS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE. – She Thinks It Is Not Fair for Women to Have to Sit Around and Wait for a Proposal—Mr. Depew Agrees, with His Characteristic Courtesy—Mrs. Frank Leslie Scouts the Idea as Preposterous.
November 18, 1888
SHOULD WOMEN PROPOSE?
MANY NOTABLE PEOPLE SEND ANSWERS TO NELLIE BLY’S QUESTION. – Miss Kate Field Says She is a Social Mugwump—Belva Lockwood Writes A Characteristic Letter, and Bill Nye Says He Is Already Provided For—Jenny June Wants No Such Innovation—Marshall Wilder Sees a Chance for Himself.
November 25, 1888
SHOULD WOMEN PROPOSE?
ONE GIRL HAS TAKEN NELLIE BLY’S ADVICE AND IS NOW MARRIED. – Gen. Butler Writes to Say That the Question No Longer Interests Him—E.H. Sothern Claims Exclusive Rights for Men—Dr. Talmage Says Women Have Always Exercised the Privilege.
December 2, 1888
VISITING THE DISPENSARIES
NELLIE BLY NARROWLY ESCAPES HAVING HER TONSILS REMOVED. – Treated as a Charity Patient in the Throat, Skin and Ear Infirmaries – She Joins the Throng of Poor Invalids and Finds Out How Free Medical Aid is Dispensed—One Brusque Old Doctor Probes Her Throat and Nose and Wants to Perform an Operation—A Young Physician Tells Her Never to Wash Her Face with Soap—The Druggists’ Big Profits—What she Saw and Heard.
December 23, 1888
A DAY IN A DIET KITCHEN
THE SAD PROCESSION OF INVALIDS BEGGING FOR THE SIMPLEST FOOD. – Nellie Bly Visits the Wretched Homes of Some of the Sufferers. – A Charity That Dispenses Nourishment to the Afflicted Poor with Liberal Hand and Irrespective of Race, Religion of Character—The Matron Tells of Her Long Experience—Mrs. Nugent’s Wretched Garret in Mulberry Street—A Hopeless Invalid, Blind and Penniless—The Quarrel Over Mrs. Healy’s Bank Account—Mrs. Siffert’s Misery and Suffering.
