Wednesday, May 6, 2015

a day to celebrate women

wonder | wander | women need no excuse to celebrate women and our greatness and yet we do not do so often enough.

Today would be the 151st birthday of Nellie Bly, who must be pretty special. There's an animated Google Doodle by artist Katy Wu commemorating the occasion. Indie rocker and lead singer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O wrote "Oh Nellie," singing her high praises. CNN ran a special story on the whole shebang. There's even a begonia named after her. 

Yet who of us recognize or remember Nellie Bly?

"Nellie Bly (May 5, 1864 - January 27, 1922) was the pen name of American journalist Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman. She was also a writer, industrialist, inventor, and a charity worker who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, in emulation of Jules Verne's fictional character PhileasFogg, and an exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from within. She was a pioneer in her field, and launched a new kind of investigative journalism."

The audacious Nellie Bly, pioneering journalist who lived fast, died too young and was the foremother of a new and groundbreaking type of investigative reporting has all but faded from our recollection and memory. How many more like her have been long forgotten or even buried from sight - dead or alive? 

Yet without women, who would be mothering the next generations - outstanding or otherwise? How could such a trailblazer have been snuffed out so easily? May her memory ignite us to be vigilant of our females and our futures. 

May we always honor our women - known and unknown - past, present and future. 

"Someone's got to stand up and tell them what a girl is good for."

1 comment:

  1. For hundreds of true stories of trailblazing girls and women who have worked to change the world, visit A Mighty Girl's "Role Models" biography section at

