Those Intrepid Reporters

Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

Photo property of the Author

March is National Women's History Month. In honor of the month, I thought a brief look at some of the early women reporters might be fun. 

Most have heard of Nellie Bly. This reporter went undercover in an insane asylum to report on the conditions in those institutions.

 

Nellie Bly
photo from Wikipedia

Bly was born Elizabeth Cochran in 1864. It was a dare from the editor of the New York World that sent Bly into that asylum. What many may not know, Bly took up the challenge to circumvent the world in 80 days. The Jules Verne book was very popular during that time, so it was another way to make headlines. She did and succeeded in her quest by making the trip in 72 days.  For those who might like to read her work, you can search it out on the web. 

The success of Ms. Bly offered other women a role model for investigative reporting. One such was Polly Pry in Colorado. Polly, born Leonel Ross Campbell in 1857, also worked for the New York World and was sent by the paper to Panama to ferret out the rumor about the US building a canal there. When her parents moved to Denver in the 1890s, Nell, as she was known in the family,  started up a conversation with a man on the train. The man, Fredrick Bonfils of the Denver Post. He offered her a job. She eventually took up the case of Alfred Packer, and then went after the corrupt labor unions. 

Polly Pry
photo from Wikipedia

When fired from the Post, she started her own publication "Polly Pry", but after almost being killed when an angry man knocked on her door at night, she eventually sold the publication and returned to New York. New York didn't make up for her missing Colorado. When she returned, the Denver Times offered her a job. They sent her to Mexico to interview Pancho Villa. Polly continued her life as a reporter, including covering WWI. She died at the age of eighty-one. 

There were more such reporters, and worth studying. 

Have a productive month and remember to celebrate those women who paved the way for those who followed. Until next time. 

Link to Ten Days in a Mad-House, Nellie Bly: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/59899

Link to Polly Pry's article on the Colorado World Fair Commission: https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CTR19030514.2.9&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA--------0------

Doris McCraw