Ten Days In A Mad-House

Investigative reporter Nellie Bly is well-known in the world of journalism for going to extreme measures to get to the bottom of issues. Her most famous assignment was given to her when she walked into the offices of the New York World penniless and desperate. Bly, who's real name is actually Elizabeth Cochran, was expected to imitate an insane woman in an attempt be admitted into the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island in New York where there were reports of cruel and neglectful behavior. After practicing deranged behavior in the front of the mirror, she made her insanity public until she was finally determined "positively demented" and "undoubtedly insane" by doctors. As a patient, she got to personally experience the inhumane conditions. 

After enduring ten days of unfair treatment, Bly was released from the institution and determined to report her horrific findings. As a direct result, a grand jury initiated its own investigation. The fact that a woman at this time had singlehandedly exposed this brutality both amazes and inspires me.