The famous Nellie Bly was known primarily as a journalist, but in the novel, Nellie Bly: Daredevil. Reporter. Feminist, by Brooke Kroeger, we learn she was also an industrialist, world traveler, and a woman of many “firsts.” Her story began in 1864 in Pennsylvania and continued to writing for the Pittsburgh Dispatch, the New York World, for Joseph Pulitzer, and more. At a time when hardly any reporter had a byline, she was frequently on the front page with her name in the actual headline. 

Most well known for her undercover stint in a “madhouse” or lunatic asylum, she was also known for traversing the globe in under 80 days, and her many interviews with important figures in history, such as Susan B. Anthony and Emma Goldman. She was doing gonzo journalism long before Hunter S. Thompson.

She also took over her husband’s manufacturing company after his death and became the first woman to design, manufacture and market the first successful steel barrel in the U.S.

She frequently championed the underprivileged, especially if they were women or orphaned children. She had her flaws, but she commanded attention everywhere she went and became a pivotal figure in history in the early 1900s.