Ten Days in a Mad-House

#1114
Title: Ten Days in a Mad-House
Author: Nellie Bly
Year: 1887
Publisher: Ian L. Munro, Publisher
Pages: 96

Intrigued by Goodman's  Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race around the World and subsequently reading and enjoying Bly's own account, Around the World in 72 Days, I turned to one of her undercover pieces. (It's actually two pieces--the title piece and a brief investigation of the conditions of the hire and employment of servant girls.)

Bly recounts how she got herself committed to the Woman’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island via Bellevue. As noted in, if I remember correctly, The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic, it was shockingly easy to get committed for minor social infractions. This covert entry to the mad-house allowed her to observe and report on the deplorable conditions, general staff cruelty and indifference, and lack of adequate assessment and evaluation. Her expose led to a grand jury and both funding increases and better oversight.