Blackwell Island, NY
Blackwell Asylum was the first mental hospital in New York. It was overcrowded, which resulted in a lack of internal administration, disease outbreaks, improper diet and nutrition, and bad living conditions. To reduce costs they even hired convicts as attendants. They had accommodations for 640 in 1868 and had 1035 people in the building. More buildings were built throughout time. Female and immigrant patients were many, though men still ended up here. The newest and most violent were put in one building, and if new patients weren't violent, moved to another building. Nellie Bly checked herself into here in 1887. 10 days later she was released with the help of Pulitzer. Several investigations later, her report ended this asylum. In 1901 all patients were transferred elsewhere and it closed.
The saner she acted, the more insane she was thought to be. Her report, according to asylumprojects.org, looked like this:
"What, excepting torture, would produce insanity quicker than this treatment? Here is a class of women sent to be cured. I would like the expert physicians who are condemning me for my action, which has proven their ability, to take a perfectly sane and healthy woman, shut her up and make her sit from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. on straight-back benches, do not allow her to talk or move during these hours, give her no reading and let her know nothing of the world or its doings, give her bad food and harsh treatment, and see how long it will take to make her insane. Two months would make her a mental and physical wreck."
Currently, it is now a historic building restored into an apartment complex. Would you want to live there? Yeah, not me. It is called Roosevelt Island now.
What Nellie Bly Experienced
*If you want details, as in a lot of details, I strongly suggest you read 10 Days in the Mad-House for yourself. I am writing a snapshot view of her report that won't be pages long.*
Nellie Bly took on a new name, checked herself into a boarding house, and acted insane. She acted like an insomniac, wandered, and ranted incoherently. She was committed in days. She claimed to be a Cuban immigrant with amnesia. She went from Bellevue Hospital to Blackwell Island.
1600 patients were in a building built for 1000 people. There were 16 doctors on staff. Asylums could be used as what we now call "circus freak shows" and be entertainment for the public. This was just the beginning of a terrible 10 days. Patients were forced to take cold baths and remain in wet clothes for hours, creating frequent sickness. People were forced to sit still in chairs in silence for 12 hours, forced to pull carts like mules, and given bad living conditions and food. Complaining resulted in beatings and threat of sexual violence.
Inmates were composed of, often, sane people. They were recent imigrants, got caught up in law systems and couldn't communicate, were poor, or were women (mostly). Sane people were being psychologically harmed.
Even though her cover was nearly blown by a fellow reporter, she made it for 10 days and got out with some outside help from her editor. Her reports were published within days. A grand jury investigated the asylum one month later, but they had been tipped off and cleaned up their act. Despite this denial of her facts, the jury took Bly's side. They increased funding, abusive staff were fired, translators were hired, and the system was changed to prevent the sane from being committed. Bly's career took off after this story.
Pictures:
Haiku Deck
azquotes.com
macaulay honors college
Sources:
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nellie-bly
http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php/Blackwell%27s_Island_Asylum
https://www.biography.com/news/inside-nelly-bly-10-days-madhouse
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