Episode 20: Nellie Bly
For this episode we focus on a woman who embodied sass, drive, creativity, brains, bravery, and heart. She was a journalist, a novelist, an adventurer, an inventor, an advocate for social reform and did it all under a name that wasn’t her own!
Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born May 5, 1864 in Cochran’s Mill, PA. Her father, Judge Michael Cochran was a self made man with a lot of power, money and not a lot of forethought: When little Elizabeth (who the family called “Pink”) he died without a will.
SWOOP! (That’s the sound of his children showing up with their hands out.)
Mary Jane was forced to sell their beautiful home, and the family moved to much less lush surroundings. Of course, we will tell you the rest of the tale in the podcast, but let’s just say that the family hit some hard times. Mary Jane had a less than successful marriage, Pink had a less than successful education, and the family saw a gritty side of humanity.
It was during the floundering years that Pink read an article in the Pittsburgh Dispatch that would change her life. Enraged with the message, she penned an anonymous letter signed, “Lonely Orphan Girl”. The letter led to a job, and a nom de plume based on a Stephen Foster Song, Nelly Bly.
We chat about her days at the Pittsburgh Dispatch and her first adventure in Mexico as a correspondent, the nerve of her move to New York, her wit and schemes that landed her first undercover assignment, “Ten Days in a Mad House”.
Nelly may have been trying to earn a living, stand out and survive in a male dominated world, but her daring adventures led to social reform, too. BONUS!
The professional life of Nellie Bly was legendary and personally, she had some adventures and very quick romance that led to marriage to a man 40 years her senior and a second career as a head of industry.
The latter years subjects of Nellie’s stories were more about social reform than attention-grabbing gimmicks. She rallied for poor women and mothers and was a champion for orphans. She worked tirelessly…really, as in: she worked herself sick. She neglected both her health and her medications until Elizabeth Cochran, Nellie Bly, died at the age of 58 in 1922 from pneumonia.
Time Travel With The History Chicks
Both of us began our adventure with Nellie by listening to the Librivox recording of Around The World in 72 Days . Download from itunes or check out their website! You can read that as well as 10 Days in a Madhouse online .
Yes, we know, some of you are more visual learners! There is a PBS American Experience for that!
Is there a Nellie Bly website? Of course there is! Right here It seems aimed at a youngish demographic, but there is a lot of research material on it that is not all juvenile.
Gee, we wonder if a certain podcast/website that we adore and is based in New York ever did anything about Nellie since she lived there? Well of course the Bowery Boys did, here is a piece about the asylum where she got her start. Wait, that sounds bad…
Books! Here is what we felt was the best biography about Nellie that we found:
Nellie Bly: Daredevil Reporter Feminist by Brooke KroegorAnother one we would recommend
And for the younger crowd (or those of you who like lots of pictures…no shame in that!)
You know what would be neat? If someone made a musical out of Nellie’s story! Oh wait, they did! If anyone has ever seen this, we would love to hear what you thought! Stunt Girl! The Musical!
Minicast – Annie Chambers
Episode 19A: Annie Chambers
For this minicast, we discuss a madam far removed from Madame de Pompadour; another country, another time period, a different social class. However, both used similar tools to gain power and influence; both used brains in addition to body to make their marks, and both had ties to a title that they were not born to. The madam du jour is Annie Chambers, the Queen of the Kansas City Red Light District!
Annie, later in life
Because we live in Kansas City, this woman’s life was physically close to us- but she was brought to our attention by one of our listeners! A sweet man named Donald sent us an email suggesting that we research this woman whose history he had become fascinated with many years ago while on a visit to our fair city. Just a quick search and we were hooked. We can’t tell you enough, your suggestions really do influence who we discuss- usually if you are interested in learning more, so are we!
Born in Kentucky in 1842, she was given the name Leannah Loveall (That’s enough to grab your attention right? A woman of negotiable affections has LOVEALL as her surname?) The family moved to Sullivan, Indiana when Annie was just a young girl so that Dad could operate a hotel.
If Annie’s story were a novel, it would begin on a day that was different, a day when change began. That day was when Abraham Lincoln was campaigning for the 1860 election and he came through Sullivan. Annie, against her father’s desires, rode on horseback in the parade.
She made a decision and marched in that parade for Abraham Lincoln, and it changed her life. We talk about what happened in the podcast- her life as a teacher, and as a woman who married very much like many women did at the time. We talk about her son, his death, and another three days of tragedy that sent her life off on an entirely different path that takes her from sporting houses in Indiana to her own “resort” in Kansas City.
Annie’s neighborhood. Her house was on the corner of 3rd and Wyandotte
Annie’s is a story about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Yes, it is also a story about prostitution and brothels, about the Kansas City Red Light district and “sporting life”. A tale of a Madam With a Heart of Gold who tried to treat her girls right. But she was a smart business woman who was always looking for ways to expand, always looking for the best for both her clients and her girls. She guided the woman who came to her to vastly improved lives, boasting a high success rate for sending her “girls” off to respectable lives and marriage.
Even in death, she used her wealth wisely. Her estate was bequeathed to the City Union Mission, an organization that is still providing support to the people of Kansas City. Of course, we go into all those details in the podcast, name drop again (Carrie Nation! ) And chat about details of her life including a VERY May/December romance and marriage later in her life!
Annie Chambers died on March 24, 1935 and is buried in Kansas City, her grave marked with the last legal married name that she had, Leannah Kearns.
The story of Annie Chambers is a remarkable adventure during a very exciting time in the history of the United States and we are thrilled to be able to share it with you.
TIME TRAVEL WITH THE HISTORY CHICKS
A good place to continue your journey learning more about the life of Annie Chambers is this short video produced by the Kansas City Public Library and available through KCPT . It’s not boring and dry, really! Check it out!
And here is recommended reading about this woman and her times from the Kansas City Public Library.
Another really informative stop is this family ancestry blog. After reading about Annie, we will confess that we clicked around the site and read more about the other people and times that are contained in this website – although they are not directly related to the topic at hand. We just get nosey like that sometimes. You never know what you are going to find!
Books : We found a historical fiction novel about Annie that did a decent job of filling in the blanks and bringing her story to life. We got our copy through our local library. (Have we spoken enough about our love of libraries?)
Annie Chambers by Lenore Carroll
Annie’s house was destroyed in 1946, but her legacy lives on in the history of Kansas City and the good work done by those at the City Union Mission. Want to learn what that is? City Union Mission
We know that sometimes we introduce you to women you may not have known. This time it was one of our listeners who introduced us, and we are so very grateful that he did!
As always, music comes courtesy of Music Alley. Visit them at Music.mevio.com
Episode 19: Madame de Pompadour
We attempt to be as PG13 as possible during this episode’s discussion of a woman who won the favor of a King, and is remembered as one of the most influential mistresses France has ever seen.
But before she could hold such a lofty position, Madame de Pompadour was a fair maiden with an interesting family. Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was born December 29, 1721 to Madeleine de La Motte and Francois Poisson. Or maybe to Madeleine and Paris de Montmartel. Or maybe Madeleine and le Normant de Tournehem. Ah, yes, Mama got around. But Francois was her husband and the father of record , so we shall call him,Papa. Tournehem was a very important part of Jeanne Antoinette’s life, so we shall call him, Uncle. And de Montmartel? He doesn’t show up much in our tale, so we don’t call him anything (although he was, technically, her Godfather.)
We discuss the education of this young woman. What was life like in this time for a child of a not titled, but wealthy family? We also discuss various versions of her early years that are floating around. How long did she study with the Urseline’s just outside of Paris? How much influence did her father have in her life? Did she really visit a fortune teller at the age of nine and what did that woman say?
But this we know: Thanks to a number of people, she got a very fine education despite Papa being sent to Germany for ten years for a financial scheme gone very wrong, and Mama losing most of their fortune in his absence. Hey! She was pulling single mom duty for not only young Jeanne Antoinette but also a younger son, Abel. She did the best she could given her circumstances, connections and, er, talents. Jeanne Antoinette was raised to be a delightful, well spoken, dignified, entertaining and educated young woman who charmed with a beauty from within. Not too shabby for growing up Kardas…Poisson.
Eventually Papa returns to Paris, Mama decorates a new beautiful home, and our girl Jeanne Antoinette is married to the nephew of potential daddy, Le Normant de Tournehem. All is well, although Jeanne Antoinette has set her sights a liiiittle higher than her husband, the father of her child. She wants the King.
And by “wants” we mean…claim his heart and serve France at court.
Snares him she does. We go into the juicy details, but basically he just so happened to have an opening for a Maitress en Titre ( the chief mistress to the king), and Jeanne Antoinette (although married…and with a child) is the woman for the job! But she needed a title. He gets his people on it, finds one that wasn’t being used, and voila! Marquis de Pompadour. A little training in life at Versailles, a presentation to court and she moves into the palace and gets to work. Such as it is.
For the next twenty years she is at the King’s side. Oh, yes, he had a Queen….but Madame de Pompadour understood and inspired the King like no other woman in his history. He listened to her on matters of state, of design, of art, of leisure, of just about anything that he was involved in- so was she. Sometimes the endeavors were successful, sometimes notsomuch.
We try to not get too bogged down with the wars and the politics, but those were just two of the things that Mme de Pompadour’s opinion was sought by Louis. We do name drop a little during the podcast, seriously, when the woman’s bestie is Voltaire, you KNOW there are going to be some A list parties!
She suffers sadness, uncertainty, a lot of bad press, a loss of sexual abilities but maintains a close, deep friendship and love with Louis for the remainder of her days. In 1764, at the age of 42, she dies in Versailles (which was forbidden, btw) of either lung cancer or tuberculosis.
Time Travel With The History Chicks
As always, there is so much more to the life of this woman than we can cover in an hourish. If you are intrigued, we suggest your first stop should be over to Madamedepompadour.com (There really is a dotcom for everything, isn’t there?) Lots and lots of info and links to get you cruising along.
If you are as fascinated with Versailles as we are, or even just a little, here is a direct link to purchase the book we told you to get waaay back when we talked about Marie Antoinette: Versailles, A Biography Of A Palace, by Tony Spawforth. Get it now, you are going to want it. (And, we do not get paid by Amazon, or anyone else that we recommend in this section, but that’s how much we want you to have this book!)
Not Mme de Pompadour specific, but we also would recommend The Bourbons: A History of a Dynasty by J.H. Shennan
Want some historical fiction to go with your newfound Mme de Pompadour knowledge? The book Beckett recommended is To Dance with Kings, by Rosalind Laker; the book that Susan’s friend Melissa recommended is The Philosopher’s Kiss by Peter Prange.
Here is a link that we promised to l’ecole Royale Militaire, the military school begun by Louis XV, ( with the encouragement of Mme de Pompadour, of course). L’ecole Militaire.
And finally, what discussion of Madame de Pompadour would not be complete without a TARDIS?
Get it here, and tell us if it’s as cool as it looks. Seriously though, Mme Pompadour appeared in the Dr Who storyline…read all about it here.
As always, music comes courtesy of Music Alley. Visit them at Music.mevio.com
Clue: Episode 19
