Nellie Bly hasn't always been known by this name. When she was born, on May 5, 1864, her parents named her Elizabeth Cochran. Elizabeth was born and raised in a small mill town in Pennsylvania. It was here that she received one year of formal education, and was then taught by her father. He was a very wealthy and prestigious man of their town. When Elizabeth was five years old, the family moved to a nearby town called Apollo. They lived here a year and then her father died, so this meant that now her mother had a big responsibility to raise the children alone. Elizabeth's father had always encouraged his children to be curious, and to explore and learn as much as they could by reading. Her mother also encouraged them to use their minds. When Elizabeth was 15, she attending a boarding school for one year and then decided to stay at home and learn. She would spend hours at a time reading and writing in the family library. Elizabeth began to think that her name was too plain, so she added an "e" to her last name and she now was known as Elizabeth Cochrane.
In 1886, at the age of 19, Elizabeth and her sister moved to Pittsburgh. They were both very excited since they had always dreamed of living in a large and exciting place. Since their money was beginning to run low, Elizabeth went out in search of a job. She had an extremely hard time doing so. During this time period, by the age of 20 most of the women were either married or soon would be. So, those who were not had very few ways making money since it was difficult for women, during this time, to get a job other than becoming a governess for children, a maid, in stores as clerks, a factory worker or companions to elderly women. The work was hard, the hours long and the pay was low. Elizabeth did not want this, she wanted a career!
Women were not looked upon the same as they are today. At this time, women did not yet have the right to vote and were not treated the same as men. One day Elizabeth was reading the Pittsburgh Dispatch and came across an article entitled "What Girls Are Good For." This article made fun of women that were trying to get some of the same jobs that men had. It stated that unless women became nurses or teachers then they should stay at home and leave work to men. This made Elizabeth furious! Because of this article, she wrote a response to the newspaper stating how women should have the chance to do the same kinds of work as men and should be paid the same as them as well. She signed the letter "Lonely Orphan Girl," and mailed it. A few days later while reading the Dispatch, Elizabeth was greatly surprised to read a response to her letter published there. She decided to go right to the newspaper office and see what the managing editor, George Madden, had to say. Elizabeth received her first job because of her response to the news article. Her letter convinced many people, including the editor of the Dispatch, that women were good for writing. Elizabeth was excited that she had a job writing for a living and also that she was going to by a reporter.