Ten Days in a Mad-House

Ten Days in a Mad-House, published in 1887, is Nellie Bly's pioneering work of undercover journalism. Assigned by Joseph Pulitzer's New York World to investigate conditions at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island, Bly had herself committed by feigning madness. What she found — rotten food, ice-cold baths, brutal attendants, and sane women trapped alongside the genuinely ill — caused a national scandal and led directly to increased funding and reform. The book established Bly as America's most famous journalist and remains a landmark of investigative reporting.