'Patient' In A Mental Asylum Exposes Its Shocking Secrets To The World
The New York City Lunatic Asylum was not a place people went to voluntarily. Operating from 1841 until 1894, the mental health institution was home to some of the 20th century's most jarring sights, leading author Charles Dickens to describe it as having a "lounging, listless, madhouse air, which was very painful." And yet, one woman with a hidden purpose voluntarily checked herself in — and completely changed the course of history.
New York City Lunatic Asylum
"The insane asylum on Blackwell's Island is a human rat-trap," Nelly Bly, the poor soul that got herself thrown into the institution back in 1887 said. "It is easy to get in, but once there it is impossible to get out." She didn't know what she was truly going up against.
Mental Health Crisis
In the early 1800s, medical professionals recognized a growing number of insane residents in New York City. Without a modern understanding of mental health, the experts proposed the Lunatic Asylum, a "response to the desperate need for proper accommodation for the insane," according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
To Outsiders
To the outside world, there was no reason to wonder what went on inside the New York City Lunatic Asylum. Locals saw the institution as a place to care for those that could not care for themselves. They didn't ask too many questions about the looming, octagon-shaped building on Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island). But then there was Nelly Bly.
Nelly's Nickname
Born Elizabeth Cochrane Seama, Nelly was never going to be content with a life in the background. She earned the nickname "Pinky" as a kid because she wore so much of the color, but in her teens, she took on a more elegant persona. She was determined, as she put it, to do "something no girl has done before."
