WEBVTT - The Write Stuff 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:04.200 Just heads up. This episode contains references to sexual assault. 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:11.240 Please take care while listening. You're listening to American Shadows, 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.960 a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:26.520 from Aaron Mankey. Ambitious, intelligent, and fearless journalist Sandy Fox 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:30.120 would do anything for a story, and the tall, handsome, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.120 younger man smiling at her at the hotel bar was 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:37.000 about to become her biggest story. Her wit and beauty 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.760 attracted men wherever she went, and younger men were a favorite. 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.880 And though she didn't care much for the floral tie, 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.559 her new admirer war His movie star good looks and 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.360 hair she later described as the color of Scotch and 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:54.800 water intrigued her, but still she politely declined his offer 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:58.480 to dance. It had been a trying day. The Fox 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.279 had spent the better part of it trying to get 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:04.680 an interview with former Vice President Spiro Agnew, unsuccessful. She 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.160 just wanted to unwind with a drinker too. In November 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:12.360 of nineteen seventy four, journalism was still mostly a man's job, 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.399 but she was determined to succeed. Divorced and in her 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.080 mid forties, English born Fox had recently accepted a one 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.520 month trial with an American newspaper. They paid for all 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.399 her expenses and flew her to Atlanta alone and board. 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.400 She left the bar and headed to the Atlanta Constitution office, 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:33.919 hoping to entice fellow journalists to show her around town. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.679 No one offered. Fox returned to the hotel bar to 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:41.840 find the handsome man still there. He introduced himself as 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:44.600 Darrell Golden and asked if she had changed her mind 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.680 about that dance. This time she accepted. They hit it 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.440 off and sat and talked for a while. He told 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.480 her that he had traveled quite a bit and planned 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.680 to drive to Miami the next day. She told him 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.320 she was also traveling and leaving for West Palm Beach 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.960 in the morning. Golden suggested they share a ride. The 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:05.320 Fox choked that he could be a serial killer for 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:09.120 all she knew. The two laughed, then she finally accepted. 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.000 They spent the night together, and Golden told her he 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.919 wouldn't move long. His lawyer had secret tapes in a 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:19.920 vault and some one was bound to kill him. He 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:23.240 suggested that Fox write a book about him, and despite 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.760 this odd behavior in her misgivings, she spent the next 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:30.520 two days traveling with Golden once they arrived in West Palm. 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:35.000 Though Fox bid him farewell, Golden pleaded for one more night, 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:39.280 she declined. The following day, she learned that Golden had 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.760 picked up the wife of a fellow journalist and attempted 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:45.000 to rape her before she got away. As it turned out, 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:49.840 Darrell Golden was actually Paul Knowles, the infamous Casanova killer. 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:55.040 He'd escaped from prison and had killed women in multiple states. Later, 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:58.160 he had admit to killing thirty five women, though authorities 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:02.359 only tied him to eighteen. One month later, Knowles died 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.880 while attempting to escape. Fox returned to London with not 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.080 only a story to tell, but the realization that she 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.720 agreed with her former travel companion on one thing. She 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:17.240 would indeed write a book about him. Fox hadn't intentionally 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:20.960 placed herself in danger, but she wasn't the only female 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:25.760 journalist who would do anything for a story. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:35.160 Welcome to American Shadows. One day in eighteen eighty five, 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.120 the headline for the Pittsburgh Dispatch read what Girls Are 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.800 Good for? Erasmus Wilson, the father of five girls and 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.040 the papers most popular columnist, penned the story under the 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:50.440 pseudonym Quiet Observer. In the article, Wilson stated that a 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.360 woman's worth was housework and bearing children. He also said 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:59.760 that working women were monstrosities, perhaps naturally women readers didn't 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.800 take to Wilson's opinion. One angry woman anonymously wrote a 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:08.120 lengthy rebuttal, pointing out that women equally intelligent were not 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.760 given the same opportunities as men in the workplace. They 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.120 did their jobs as well as their male counterparts for 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:17.279 half the pay. The reader eloquently pointed out that a 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.880 woman's shortcomings were the men who held them back. Not 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.719 one to complain without a solution, the author made several 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:26.760 keen suggestions to enrich the lives of women and the 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.480 state of society. The letter caught the attention of George Madden, 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.960 the papers editor. He published a notice asking for the 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:38.719 anonymous author to step forward, and when Elizabeth Jane Cochrane 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.280 walked into his office, he offered her a job as 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:46.640 a reporter, and so began her wild career. Elizabeth was 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.440 no stranger to hard work and pushing to get ahead. 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:54.120 She had fourteen siblings. Her father, Michael, had ten children 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:56.640 with his first wife, But when she passed away. He 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:00.840 went Mary Jane Kennedy, also a widow. Kennedy Cochrane had 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:04.560 five children together. Elizabeth was born on May fifth of 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:09.360 eighteen sixty four and became her father's thirteen daughter. Superstition 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:11.680 about the numbers seemed to do little except to make 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:15.960 her more ambitious. Michael Cochrane died when Elizabeth was six 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.039 years old. Although he had been the successful judge and 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:24.280 prosperous landowner, his untimely death presented a serious financial hardship 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:28.000 for his second family. Some sources say his second family 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:29.920 had very little to live on by the time the 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:33.400 estate was divided among all his children. Others say Michael 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:37.000 died without a will, leaving Mary without access or claim 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:41.120 to his estate. Either way, the family struggled to make 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:45.800 ends meet and became destitute. Early on, Elizabeth realized that 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:50.120 survival meant earning a decent wage. Given the limited choices 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:54.800 presented to women, it was a monumental task, but Elizabeth 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:59.240 was smart and very determined. At fifteen, she enrolled in 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.120 a small school to become a teacher, but dropped out 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:06.080 when she could no longer afford classes. Instead, the mother 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:08.920 and daughter moved to Pittsburgh to run a boarding house. 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:13.000 She was just eighteen when she penned her controversial response 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.520 to Wilson's article, and after accepting the job as a reporter, 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.120 Elizabeth got straight to work. The editor wanted her to 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.440 have a catchy pseudonym, and her fellow journalists tossed around 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.640 a few suggestions, but one of them suggested Nellie Bly, 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:31.520 and it stuck. Pittsburgh songwriter Stephen Foster had made the 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:34.640 name famous in his song Nellie Bly, though he spelled 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.599 Nellie with a y instead of an I e. The 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.360 lyrics portrayed a young woman with fortitude and grit, traits 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:46.240 Elizabeth possessed, and with that, Elizabeth Cochrane became Nellie Bly. 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:50.000 A reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Her new career gave 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:52.120 her the freedom to shine a light on a subject 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:56.320 She was passionate about women's issues. While she wrote about 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:00.920 all injustices, she primarily focused on working when men. Her 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.479 new career seemed nearly perfect, including the salary of five 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:14.320 dollars a week, at least for a while. Bli's articles 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:18.400 were highly controversial in the Victorian era. In her first article, 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:22.760 titled The Girl Puzzle, she argued that women needed better opportunities, 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:27.280 especially impoverished women. Even more radical, Blin made a case 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:31.280 for some women to remain single. She titled her second 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.680 article Mad Marriages, which called for divorce law reform. Blin 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.920 didn't stop there. To get to the heart of another story. 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:43.160 She went undercover working in a factory. Women at sweatshops 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:47.160 worked for pitiful wages. They endured unsafe working conditions and 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:51.280 unreasonably long hours to earn more money. Bli thought wealthy 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:55.080 business men taking advantage of women made for a great story. 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:59.080 The factory owners didn't agree. They had money and power, 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.720 and immediing le pressured George Madden to stop printing the stories. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.760 Fearing repercussions from the city's elite and powerful, Madden reassigned 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:11.160 Bli to the Societal pages to cover more woman appropriate 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:16.119 topics like gardening, social events, and fashion. The reassignment didn't 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.600 sit well with Bli. She proposed that the paper center 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.440 to Mexico to write an article about life under Dictator 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:27.040 por Furio Diaz. Unfortunately, the assignment was cut short and 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:30.160 Bli returned home, where Madden promptly assigned her to the 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:34.240 Societal pages again. Bli wanted more out of her career 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:38.200 and quit. She wrote a note to Erasmus Wilson, addressing 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:41.240 him by his pen name dear q O. She wrote, 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:46.320 I'm off for New York. Look out for me, signed BLI. 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:50.200 For six months, she applied to one newspaper after another. 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.360 No one wanted to hire a woman journalist. Finally, she 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.840 landed an interview with John Cockrill, the managing editor for 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.160 Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The paper had a long 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:06.080 standing reputation for provocative and sensationalist stories and captivating headlines. 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:10.600 Cockerell wanted someone who could deeply investigate tough topics and 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:15.000 write powerful stories. Bli assured Pulitzer and Cockerell that she 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.880 could get the job done. The men said that she'd 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:21.440 need something wild and over the top to secure the position. 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:25.880 In fact, they had just the assignment go undercover at 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:30.440 the Blackwell Island Insane Asylum. For years, rumors had swirled 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:34.520 around the conditions inside Blackwell. There were whispers of cruelty 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.800 and neglect. The job wouldn't be for the faint of heart, 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:41.079 they warned. Did she have enough courage to endure a 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:44.360 stay at Blackwell? And could she manage to fool doctors 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:48.560 and staff into believing she was insane. Bli replied that 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:53.160 she most definitely did and could. Cockerell cautioned her to 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:57.439 not write sensationalism for headline's sake. She must tell the truth, 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:02.360 good or bad. Again. Lie agreed. She assured them that 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:05.520 getting in would be easy. All she needed to do 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.600 was looking act like she had lost her mind, and 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.360 the real question was how her editors would get her out. 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:16.320 Cockerell shrugged and replied he had no idea. Bli took 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:19.000 the job. Her editors left it up to her to 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.200 figure out how to get inside Blackwell. She decided on 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:25.520 the persona of Nellie Brown. The initials matched her own 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:29.720 for simplicity's sake. For a while, she considered asking friends 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:33.000 for help, but that would have required them to act 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.240 and pretend to be poor and Blackwell when we took 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:39.440 in those without money, she decided the best plan was 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.920 to leave them out of it. She found tattered second 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.280 hand clothes to wear and rehearsed dazed expressions in front 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:50.040 of a mirror. She practiced acting strangely and stayed up 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.600 most of the night telling herself ghost stories fully In 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.600 her new role, Bli rented a room at a boarding house. 0:10:57.240 --> 0:11:00.240 She shouted about murder and mayhem and accute as her 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:04.120 fellow borders of being insane. That first night, one of 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.120 the boarders had a nightmare about her. The next day, 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.480 the rest of the tenants became so terrified of her 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.760 that they called the police. Bli later wrote that her 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:16.120 performance was the greatest of her life. The police took 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:18.080 her to court to stand in front of a judge. 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:22.160 Bli continued to play her role. The judge didn't take 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.240 long to send her to Bellevue for an evaluation. Now, 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:35.360 all Bligh had to do was fool the doctors. As 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:39.680 the doctors poked, prodded, and questioned her, Bli stared blankly, 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.080 and she told them she had no idea how she 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.800 got to New York. After the doctors determined that she 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:48.440 was not drugged, they declared her insane. Bli listened as 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:52.000 the doctors examined another woman till he Maynard. No matter 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:54.640 how many times Maynard asked for a test to prove 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.040 her sanity, the staff refused and locked her away for 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:02.280 being difficult. Another mean, an immigrant from Germany, pleaded with 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.720 the doctor in her native language. Unable to understand her, 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.800 he declared her anxiety in pleading word signs of insanity 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:13.880 and ordered her committed. Bli was stunned. Without any translator 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.199 or family, this woman and those like her would most 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.800 likely live out the rest of their lives at Blackwell. 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.960 Bli quickly dropped the insanity act, and, as it turned out, 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.520 being committed had little if anything to do with mental illness. 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:30.920 She and the others were ushered onto a ferry and 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:35.000 taken to Blackwell. The hundred and twenty acre island stretches 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.600 along the East River, running alongside Manhattan from fifty first 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:43.960 Street to eight Blackwell A later renamed Roosevelt Island, had 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:48.800 one more name, Welfare Island. The island contained more than 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:53.240 the asylum. It included prisons, hospitals, and charity housing for 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.680 the needy and disabled. I'll told eleven institutions existed on 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.560 the island In eighteen seventy two. The asylum, which had 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.240 been expanded to accommodate around a thousand patients, now housed 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:09.680 one thousand, six hundred. Just sixteen doctors were assigned to 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:13.400 care for all of them. Bli gathered her courage and 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.880 allowed the staff to take her inside. She made friends 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.520 with fellow inmates and asked for their stories. She found 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:24.520 many were not clinically insane at all. Immigrant women who 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.560 couldn't speak English had been declared incompetent. Indigent women without 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:32.520 husbands or family had also been committed. Given their treatment, 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:36.040 Bli had no doubt that anyone who arrived saying wouldn't 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.800 remain that way long. Patients suffered immense cruelty from the 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.080 doctors and staff. The staff forced Blith and the others 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.160 to sit motionless, without speaking, on benches for up to 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.280 twelve hours. Anyone who dared complain or resist was beaten 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:54.880 or threatened, sometimes with sexual violence. They were harnessed together 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:58.520 like livestock and made the pull carts. Meals consisted of 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:03.439 moldy bread and other rotting food. The staff didn't provide utensils, 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:05.959 forcing the women to tear apart their food by hand. 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:09.520 Each patient was doused with buckets of cold water instead 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.600 of showering. At night, she and the others slept with 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.640 pillows stuffed with straw and blankets too thin to keep 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.520 them warm. In the dark, a woman sobbed and pleaded 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:23.000 with God to let her die over several days, Bly 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:27.480 witnessed more abuse. Tillie Maynard suffered a seizure. Instead of 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.840 offering help, the nurses cursed her. One told the others 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:33.160 that have falled to the floor might teach Maynard a lesson. 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.680 Nurses threw another woman into a closet for muttering to herself. 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.920 The staff slapped and punched the patients. Nurses nearly choked 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.080 one woman to death. The patients were tied up with 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.440 bed sheets and dunked in frigid water. Beatings with broomsticks 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:50.280 were common. Doses of morphine and coral hydrate were administered 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:55.119 liberally and created addictions in some patients, and doctors continued 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:59.240 to examine and questioned Bly. The more she declared herself, saying, 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.800 the more they doubt at her. After ten excruciating days, 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.760 her editor sent a lawyer to secure her release. Freedom 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.600 was bitter sweet. Although she was glad to put the 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.680 experience and blackwell behind her, Bly felt determined to help 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:18.200 those she had left behind. In October seven, the first 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.800 installment of her story, titled Behind Asylum, Bars hit the 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:26.880 streets and Bly became an instant media sensation. Authorities immediately 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:30.760 launched an investigation doctors and nurses scrambled to cover up 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.360 the allegations. Patients who had been committed were released or 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:38.960 transferred to prevent them from speaking to investigators. The investigators 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:41.840 pursued the charges for months, and no one was happier 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:44.320 to be summoned before a grand jury than Nellie bly. 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.920 Despite the asylum's attempted to cover up, the jury believed 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.680 her account. Blive and New York Assistant District Attorney Vernon 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:55.880 Davis worked to bring about reform in mental institutions. A 0:15:55.960 --> 0:16:00.200 bill was passed allowing additional funding. Regulations monitoring staff and 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:04.280 patient care followed. After it was over, Nellie Bligh returned home. 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.920 She slept easier knowing that she had not only helped 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:11.880 those she left behind a Blackwell, but also other patients 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:19.720 in mental hospitals throughout the state. After her Blackwell Asylum 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:23.440 expos a, Bligh's career took off, it should proven that 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.440 women were equally capable of investigative reporting as their male counterparts. 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.040 Two years later, she made the news again. She asked 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:33.600 her editor at The World News to send her around 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.800 the world, though not as an investigator. Bli suggested a 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:41.240 publicity stunt readers would love, she would travel around the 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.640 globe and try to match Jules Verne's fictional voyage around 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:48.160 the world in eighty days. Paper sales soared as readers 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.600 kept track of Blige's whereabouts. The paper hosted a contest 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.200 with the prize of a European trip for anyone who 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:58.400 could guess Blig's return date. While in France, Bli stopped 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:02.800 to meet Jules Verne briefly. The clock was ticking, after all. 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.439 She arrived back in New York seventy two days later, 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:10.440 beating the fictional record. Bli had become a household name 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:13.120 and one of the most well known journalists in America. 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.879 Although the paper sold more copies than ever, her editor 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:19.959 refused to give her a raise or a bonus. She 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:22.760 left and went on tour as a lecturer and novelist, 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.800 recounting her trip around the world. Employment came knocking once 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:29.439 more when a publisher contracted her to write fiction for 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.400 three years, earning her far more than she ever had 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.320 at the paper. When new editors took over the World 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:40.000 News in three they convinced Bli to return, but by 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:42.840 the age of thirty, she retired from reporting and married 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:46.359 Robert Livingston. Seaman, the millionaire owner of the iron Clad 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:50.720 Manufacturing Company. She co ran her husband's company, even designing 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.600 a milk can and patenting the first fifty five gallons 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.560 steel drum. Robert died in nineteen o four, leaving Bli 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:02.320 to run the company alone. She added employees with healthcare, libraries, 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:06.160 and even a gym. The company failed, though a factory 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:11.000 manager's embezzlement helped bankrupt it. Bli returned to writing covering 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:14.600 women's rights for the New York Evening Journal. She accurately 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:17.040 predicted that women wouldn't get the right to vote until 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:21.720 nineteen twenty. Her number of firsts weren't complete, though. Bli 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.359 became the world's first woman to cover the front lines 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.480 as a foreign correspondent during World War One, where she 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.240 was briefly arrested when authorities mistook her for a British spy. 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:34.480 She continued writing about the war after returning to New York. 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:39.760 In nine two, Bli became ill with pneumonia. She died 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.800 at St. Mark's Hospital at age fifty seven and was 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.200 buried at a simple grave at Wood Lawn. In nineteen 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.080 seventy eight, the New York Press Club purchased a proper 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.720 headstone for her grave site, and in nine Bli was 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.680 inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Four years later, 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:00.640 she and other women journalists were honored on American post stamps. 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:04.760 Even then, Nellie Bligh wasn't done. A monument was erected 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:09.919 in consisting of multiple pieces sprawling along a walkway. The 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.359 faces of four women, each rendered seven feet tall and 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:17.720 bronze interspersed with large mirrored spheres, then invite the viewer 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.360 to see the statues and themselves and the reflections, all 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.800 leading to a bronze statue of Blith's face observing all. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:29.560 Designed by artist Amanda Matthews, the memorial honors Blig's courageous 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:33.480 life and outstanding journalism, along with other women who have 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:37.520 helped reshape the world. The monument, named the Girl Puzzle 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:42.200 after Bligh's first article, stands in Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island. 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.679 The location isn't far from where she went undercover at 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:50.880 Blackwell Asylum. The asylum itself, along with many other original buildings, 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:55.280 fell into disrepair. An octagon shaped tower is all that's left. 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:59.760 I've been there. It's a quieting place, once a house 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:03.679 of horror. Blackwell now stands in ruins and in the 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:07.840 shadow of the bronze monument. There's more to this story. 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:10.760 Stick around after this brief sponsor break to hear all 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:21.960 about it. On February eighth, nine seven, Evelyn Nesbitt took 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:25.640 to the witness stand, heart pounding. All eyes were on her. 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:29.480 Yet it wasn't the black curls framing her flawless complexion 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.720 that caught their attention. It wasn't her famous beauty or 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.840 status is a well known model that had everyone's focus. 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.600 It was her testimony. She recounted the events as that 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:44.680 unfolded with Stanford White, new York's top architect, and while 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:47.040 he was well known for designing homes for the city's 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:51.600 wealthy elite, he harbored a dark secret. Evelyn told the 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:54.520 court how Stanford had insisted she'd drink the champagne he 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:57.719 had handed her, despite telling him that it tasted terrible. 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:02.760 Everything went black. Shortly afterward, she awoke naked in a 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:06.480 room full of mirrors and realized what had happened. The 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:09.600 memory caused her to tremble and collapse on the stand. 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:13.359 I can't, I can't go on, she sobbed. The court 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:18.320 waited anyway, Evelyn bravely pushed on with the events. When 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:22.400 she realized Stanford had raped her, Evelyn screamed. Stanford told 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:24.400 her it was over now and that she should be quiet. 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:27.000 He threw her a kimono to put on and left 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:29.879 the room for a while. She screamed harder than before. 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:33.040 Evelyn raised her eyes to look at the courtroom and 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:36.119 primarily filled with men, except for the small table in 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:40.760 the corner where four women sat in n seven women 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:44.439 weren't permitted in a courtroom unless they were relatives or witnesses. 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:49.280 The women, Dorothy Dix, Winnifred Black, Nicola Greeley Smith, and 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:53.920 Ada Patterson, weren't either of those. They were journalists sent 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:56.600 to cover what some called the trial of the century. 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:01.560 Yet Stanford wasn't on trial for sexual salt. Evelyn had 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:04.440 been called to testify in the murder trial being conducted 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:07.960 against her husband, Harry Thaw, a feigned heir to a 0:22:08.040 --> 0:22:11.800 railroad fortune. Evelyn worked as a professional model, posing for 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:15.359 everything from the Gibson Girl Drawings to several top magazines. 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:19.119 She served as an inspiration for Anne of Green Gables. 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:22.119 Her beauty meant that she had plenty of suitors, including 0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:25.760 Stanford White. She was sixteen when they met and he 0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:29.760 was forty eight. Though Stanford was married, he groomed Evelyn 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:32.880 and her mother for what was to come. He bought 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:36.479 them expensive gifts and paid for their apartment. Stanford had 0:22:36.520 --> 0:22:39.960 a long history of grooming young girls for sex. He 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:43.040 and other members of the Union Club participated in orgies 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:47.199 and other sexual escapades. Reportedly, the ultra rich new of 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:51.119 Stanford's affinity for underaged girls, and that depravity made the 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:55.360 story much more interesting to the public. Even after the assault, 0:22:55.440 --> 0:23:00.000 Stanford pursued Evelyn with the help of her mother. Feeling helpless, 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:03.280 Evelyn remained trapped in the abusive relationship for six months. 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:07.040 When she turned seventeen, Evelyn broke away from the relationship 0:23:07.240 --> 0:23:11.160 and dated twenty one year old actor John Barrymore. Unfortunately, 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:14.960 both Stanford and her mother conspired to end the relationship. 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:19.080 Barrymore was down on his luck and Stanford had plenty 0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:23.000 of money. But another suitor was equally taken with Evelyn, 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:26.560 harry Thaw. He first met her while she starred in 0:23:26.560 --> 0:23:30.560 the Broadway show The Wild Rose. He attended forty times, 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:35.480 sending Evelyn flowers and lavish gifts. Aside from his attraction 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:39.200 to Evelyn, Harry knew about Stanford's preference for having sex 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:42.919 with miners and felt compelled to save her. When Evelyn 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:46.040 developed pendicitis, Harry was at her side at the hospital 0:23:46.440 --> 0:23:48.920 while she healed. He offered to take Evelyn and her 0:23:48.920 --> 0:23:52.160 mother on a trip to Europe. After their arrival, Evelyn 0:23:52.160 --> 0:23:56.960 told Harry about the attack. Harry misused drugs and frequently 0:23:56.960 --> 0:24:01.159 experienced fits of rage and mental instability. Evelyn knew this, 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:05.439 but when Harry proposed, she accepted. The two married on 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:08.760 April five of nineteen o five. A year later, in 0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:11.600 June of nineteen o six, Evelyn and Harry attended a 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:15.720 musical at Madison Square Garden. Harry caught sight of Stanford 0:24:15.840 --> 0:24:20.680 setting a few rows away. Harry stood fists clenching. Evelyn 0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:24.040 asked to leave. She thought her husband was behind her, 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:26.600 but when she reached the elevator he was nowhere to 0:24:26.640 --> 0:24:31.439 be found. Then she heard the shots. When the police arrived, 0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:35.360 Harry insisted Hid shot Stanford for the atrocities committed against 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:39.160 his wife. The case was a field day for the press, 0:24:39.240 --> 0:24:41.040 and the four women sitting at the table in the 0:24:41.040 --> 0:24:45.800 courtroom took to Evelyn's story with enthusiasm and heart. When 0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:49.560 their stories appeared, journalist Irving Cobb commented on their emotional 0:24:49.640 --> 0:24:54.920 retelling and dubbed them the Sob Sisters. Despite this derogatory nickname, 0:24:55.200 --> 0:24:58.280 it said that the women's stories helped effect the trial's outcome. 0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:02.440 After to try else, Harry Thaw was found not guilty 0:25:02.440 --> 0:25:06.760 by reason of insanity. All four women had successful careers 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:18.560 telling human stories and ways that, like Nellie Bly, reshaped journalism. 0:25:18.600 --> 0:25:23.080 American Shadows is hosted by me Lauren Vogelbaum, researched by 0:25:23.119 --> 0:25:26.080 Genneros That are Caught, and produced by Jesse Funk and 0:25:26.119 --> 0:25:30.199 Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and 0:25:30.280 --> 0:25:33.800 Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit Grim 0:25:33.800 --> 0:25:37.439 and Mild dot com. And four more podcasts from my 0:25:37.480 --> 0:25:41.000 Heart Radio visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:25:41.119 --> 0:25:43.280 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.