THE RETURN OF THE EYE

By: Laila Schwin and Valery Warner

March 17, 2022

Elizabeth Jane Cochran, more commonly known by her pen name, Nellie Bly, was a journalist, charity worker, and inventor. She is well-known for taking a trip around the world in 72 days and for the way that she shaped the concept of investigative journalism. 

Bly was born on May 5, 1864, in “Cochran’s Mills,” now part of the Pittsburgh suburb of Burrell Township in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. She was one of 15 children. As a young girl, Elizabeth often was called “Pinky” because she frequently wore that color. As she became a teenager, she wanted to portray herself as more sophisticated, so she dropped the nickname and changed her surname to “Cochrane”.  In 1879, she enrolled at Indiana Normal School but later was forced to drop out because of a lack of funds. In 1880, Bly’s mother moved their family to Allegheny City (now known as the city of Pittsburgh). 

Bly’s first attempt at journalism were responses to articles within the Pittsburgh Dispatch under the pseudonym “Lonely Orphan Girl”. She responded to misogynistic articles about how women were only meant for birthing and housework. She was offered a job writing articles for the Dispatch, and after her first article, which argued for divorce law reforms for women, she was offered a full-time job and the pen name of Nellie Bly. 

Her early journalistic endeavors were within the Pittsburgh Dispatch newspaper. She focused on the working conditions of women working in factories as well as general women’s societal issues. She was later informally demoted to solely writing about fashion, gardening, and women’s society upon the complaints of factory owners. She continued her political and investigative journalism on a trip to Mexico where she protested the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz and the suppression and imprisonment of Mexican journalists. She later had to flee the country upon threats of arrest and went on to publish her experiences in the book, Six Months in Mexico. 

Bly left the Pittsburgh Dispatch in 1887 for New York City. She began to face rejection from new editors who would not consider hiring a woman. She eventually talked her way into the office of Joseph Pulitzer and took an undercover assignment for which she agreed to fake insanity to investigate reports of brutality and neglect at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island, now named Roosevelt Island. Bly checked herself into a boarding house called Temporary Homes for Females where she stayed up all night to give herself the “disturbed woman look” and began making accusations that the other boarders were insane. Refusing to go to bed and scaring others, the police were called to take her to the nearby courthouse. After being examined by a police officer, a judge, and a doctor, Bly was taken to Blackwell’s Island.

After ten days, the asylum released Bly, and she later published a book called Ten Days in a Mad-House which prompted the asylum to implement reforms, thus bringing her fame. She had a lasting impact on American culture and shed light on the experiences of women beyond the asylum, too. 

In 1893, Bly used the celebrity status she had gained from her asylum reporting skills to schedule an exclusive interview with the allegedly insane serial killer, Lizzie Halliday. Her two-part series in October of 1887 was a sensation, effectively launching the decade of “stunt” or “detective” reporting, a clear precursor to investigative journalism. The stunt girls, with Bly as their prototype, were the first women to enter the journalistic mainstream in the twentieth century. 

In 1888, Bly wanted to embark on and document a journey similar to the fictional one of the adventure novel Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. On November 14, 1889, Bly boarded the Augusta Victoria and began her trip around the world. She brought very few of her belongings and relied solely on the most essential items. During this, the newspaper Cosmopolitan hired a reporter to set out the same day as Bly to beat the time of her worldwide journey. Bly was unaware of this competitor for most of her journey and ultimately did not care about the competition that was created. 

Bly had a near endless list of experiences in the places that she traveled. Her trip ended up lasting 72 days and was mostly traveled by ship and train. She set a world record for circumnavigating the world. Later on, however, the record would go on to be beaten many times, with the current record being just under 36 days.

Following her trip, Bly began to write serial novels for the New York Family Story Newspaper. Her first was Eva the Adventuress, based on the life experiences of Eva Hamilton; several of the chapters were published before Bly returned from her trip. Between 1889 and 1895, she wrote eleven novels. Most of these novels were thought to be entirely lost until their rediscovery in 2021. 

In 1895, Bly married Robert Seaman. He was 73 and failing in health at the time. Due to this, she took over as head of Iron Clad Manufacturing Company, a position previously held by Seaman. While working there, she patented both a novel milk can and stacking garbage cans. Due to embezzlement by other people within the business and general business-based negligence by Bly, the company went bankrupt. 

She went back to reporting after this and wrote stories from Europe’s Eastern Front during WWI. She was one of the first people and the first woman to visit the war zone between Serbia and Austria. She spent much of her life following this and continuing to write in newspapers. 

On January 27, 1922, Bly died of pneumonia at St. Mark’s Hospital, New York City, at the age of 57. In 1998, Bly was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and was one of four journalists honored with a U.S. postage stamp in a “Women in Journalism” set from 2002. 

Nellie Bly will forever be remembered for her accomplishments and impact on journalism. 

{Information retrieved from Womenshistory.org.}

By: Laila Schwin and Valery Warner

March 10, 2022

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an activist as a suffragist and abolitionist, along with being a poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer. She was one of the first African American women able to get her literature published in The United States of America. 

Harper was born on September 24, 1825, in Baltimore, Maryland, which at the time was a slave state. At the age of three, both of her unknown parents died, making her an orphan. She was later adopted and raised by her aunt and uncle who gave her the last name “Watkins”. Harper went to school at the Watkins Academy for Negro Youth, which her uncle had established in 1820. As a civil rights activist and abolitionist, Reverend Watkins had a major influence on his niece’s life and work. 

At the age of 13, she worked as a seamstress while also working as a nursemaid for a white family who owned a bookshop. In her spare time, she was able to read the books from the shop and work on her own writings. 

In 1850 at the age of 26, Harper moved to Baltimore, Ohio, to teach domestic science at Union Seminary, an AME-affiliated school for Black students near Columbus, Ohio. She worked as the school’s first female teacher. Union Seminary closed in 1863 when the AME Church diverted its funds to purchase Wilberforce University, the first black-owned and operated church. The following year, Watkins took a position at a school in York, Pennsylvania.

In 1839, Harper began her writing career by publishing works in antislavery journals. Her early works were published under her maiden name, Watkins. In 1845, Harper published her first book of poetry titled Forest Leaves or Autumn Leaves; the poetry in this book established Harper as an abolitionist voice. She went on to publish Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects in 1854 which became fairly popular and established her writing career even further. 

In 1858, she published one of her now best-known poems, “Bury Me in a Free Land” in an anti-slavery newspaper in Ohio. In 1859, Harper became the first black woman to publish a short story with “The Two Offers” being published in The Anglo-African Newspaper. She continued publishing works there such as her essay “The Greatest Want”. Her essays and poetry focused on the abolition of slavery and the plight of African Americans in the U.S. Throughout her life, Harper published 80 poems, many of which continued on these themes of slavery and freedom.

In 1872, Harper published Sketches of Southern Life, which highlighted the experiences of recently freed slaves in the South and the oppression of black women, even outside of slavery. Between 1868 and 1888, Harper published three novels in a magazine, Minnie’s Sacrifice, Sowing and Reaping, and Trial and Triumph. She is more well-known for her novel Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted. This novel was published in 1892 and was one of the first novels to ever be published by a black woman in the U.S. All of Harper’s works (specifically this novel) focus on the social issues of both African Americans and women and the intersection of these two identities. 

Harper was a strong supporter of abolitionism, prohibition, and women’s suffrage, progressive causes that were connected before and after the American Civil War. She was also active in the Unitarian Church, which supported abolitionism. In 1853, Harper joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and became a traveling lecturer for the group. During this time, she delivered many speeches and faced much prejudice and discrimination along the way. 

A year later, she delivered her first anti-slavery speech called “The Elevation and Education of our People”. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Harper moved South to teach newly-freed Black people during the Reconstruction Era. During this time, she also gave many large public speeches. In 1870, Harper worked with the Freedmen’s Bureau encouraging many freed men in Mobile, Alabama, to “get land, everyone that can” so they could vote and act independently once Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment. 

Harper’s public activism also continued in her later years. In 1891, Harper delivered a speech to the National Council of Women of America in Washington D.C., demanding justice and equal protection by the law for the African-American people.

A lot of Harper’s activism was displayed through speeches that she delivered. She spoke to the National Woman’s Rights Convention in 1866 and encouraged them to form the American Equal Rights Association (AERA). Harper was on the Finance Committee of the AERA and advocated for suffrage for all women, not just white women, as was previously specified by many suffrage groups at the time. AERA divided into two groups upon the introduction of the 15th amendment giving black men the right to vote. It became the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), which did not support the Fifteenth Amendment because it did not also allow women to vote. The other group was the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which supported the amendment. Harper was one of the founding members of the AWSA as a supporter of the amendment. 

Harper would later go on to help develop the National Association for Colored Women (NACW) in 1896. It was primarily founded to avoid the racism of white feminists when advocating for suffrage. In 1897, Harper became vice president of the NACW. 

On February 22, 1911, at the age of 85, Frances Harper passed away of heart failure. Her legacy as a writer, a poet, a suffragist, and an abolitionist all live on through her literature and the importance of equal rights for all women. 

{Information retrieved from Womenshistory.org}

By: Laila Schwin and Valery Warner

March 3, 2022

As of March 1, 2022, Women’s History Month began. The theme for this year is “Women who  provide healing and promote hope”. This theme is meant to recognize how women have contributed throughout the world as caretakers, particularly in the medical field as nursing tends to be a female-dominated field. 

Women’s History Month is meant to recognize many of the overlooked women in both history and in the present day. It continues to be important in working towards equality for all people by bringing together women from all walks of life and all around the globe. 

Throughout the month of March, our section of journalism will be writing an article each week to recognize the importance of three women and all of their contributions. Our articles for the next three weeks will be written about Frances Harper, Nellie Bly, and Clara Barton.

This month is a chance for people to reflect on the important women in their own lives as well as those making developments in the present day.

By: Laila Schwin and Valery Warner

February 24, 2022

Alvin Ailey is known for being a choreographer, dancer, and director for various dance companies and later for founding his own dance company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). His theater (and later the Ailey School) were created with the focus of highlighting black dancers and displaying African American experiences through dance performances.

Alvin Ailey was born in Rogers, Texas, on January 5, 1931. His father abandoned their family when Ailey was three-months-old. He and his mother were forced to work in cotton fields and as house servants to support themselves. They moved around a lot, and Ailey often stayed with relatives while his mother went out to find other work. 

In 1941, Ailey’s mother moved to Los Angeles, California. A year later, Ailey followed his mother and enrolled in George Washington Carver Junior High School. He then graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. In 1946, he began to gain an interest in dance after seeing the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Katherine Dunham Dance Company perform in Los Angeles. In 1949, Ailey began learning dance from Lester Horton at what was one of the only racially-integrated dance schools at the time. While learning dance, Ailey started studying writing and romance languages at UCLA. In 1951, he moved his studies to San Francisco State University and continued his academic focuses. While in San Francisco, he met Maya Angelou and performed a nightclub act called “Al and Rita” with her. 

In 1953, Ailey made his debut as a dancer in Revue Le Bal Caribe, which was choreographed by his mentor, Lester Horton. Later that same year, Horton passed away, and Ailey filled his role as choreographer and artistic director for the dance company. Ailey started dancing as a pair with Carmen de Lavallade. The pair performed on Broadway in the musical House of Flowers. After that production closed, Ailey performed in a touring production by Harry Belafonte called Sing, Man, Sing. In 1957, he performed in the Broadway production of Jamaica.

In 1958, Aliey founded his own dance theater called the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Alivin created his theater to honor and celebrate black culture.  The company had its debut at the 92nd Street Y. The performance included Ailey’s first masterpiece, Blues Suite. Two years later, he premiered his most popular and critical work, Revelations, again at the 92nd Street Y. After this performance and despite their success, the Ailey company struggled to find consistent bookings. The U.S. State Department sponsored AAADT’s first international tour in 1962, which traveled across Asia—with follow ups to Senegal in 1966 and East & West Africa in 1967. The company was eventually able to book a few American shows per season as well. After a successful week-long engagement at the Billy Rose Theater, the company was invited to become the resident company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This relationship did not last long, and Alvin began to struggle with tours again.

In 1970, with few bookings on the radar (and on the eve of a tour to Russia as part of a cultural exchange agreement), Ailey announced at a press conference that he was closing the company. That August, the company toured to Russia, where it was ecstatically-received. Their performances were broadcasted on Moscow television and viewed by over 22 million viewers. On closing night, because the Russian audiences would not stop applauding, the company gave over 30 curtain calls. Returning home, the company performed a two-week engagement at the ANTA Theater. By the end of the January 1971 performance, the entire show was sold out. After 13 years, Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater was a monumental success. In August 1972, the company was briefly renamed the Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater and became a resident company of the New York City Center. Ailey’s work has been met with popular and critical acclaim. AAADT was formed to celebrate African American culture and to provide performances for black dancers, who were frequently denied opportunities due to race. Ailey proudly employed artists based solely on artistic talent and integrity, regardless of their cultural background.

In 1969, Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and paired with Fordham University to allow for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program through the dance school. The school started off in Brooklyn with 125 students and has continued to grow under various leaderships throughout its history. The Ailey School is now the largest dancing school in New York City. 

Ailey died from an AIDS-related illness on December 1, 1989, at the age of 58. He asked his doctor to announce that his death was caused by terminal blood dyscrasia in order to shield his mother from the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.

Ailey’s legacy and the work that he put into uplifting black dancers continues today and is an important part of his dance company and school that still continues to teach and impact new generations of dance students. 

{Information retrieved from Biography.com and Pbs.org}