Ten Days in a Mad-House came about when Nellie Bly, working for the New York World newspaper, decides to feign insanity to have herself involuntarily admitted into the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island, now Roosevelt Island.

She exposed terrible living conditions for the patients as well as cruelty towards them. She had a deal with the newspaper that they’d get her out of there after a week, however there were issues and it took an additional 3 days to get her out.

This occurred in the late 1880s, women could be admitted to an insane asylum by their husband/brother/father for pretty much any issue they made up and only a male family member could get them out, which is why a week turned into 10 days.

Bly not only exposed the poor conditions and treatment of patients but also that many women there were not even insane but had simply been discarded by male members of their family.

When Bly’s reports were published they caused an uproar and eventually led to complete replacement of all the staff and an increase in finances for the facility so conditions improved.

I’ve also included a photo of her biography by Brooke Kroeger from 1994 which was voted Best Book of the Year by @npr Fresh Air that year.

Nellie Bly was an icon of her time, a feminist ahead of her time, and the most accomplished female reporter ever. It’s a surprise she is not more widely recognized for her contributions.