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Woman's Mental Asylum's Connection to Industrialization 

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Woman's Mental Asylum's Connection to Industrialization 

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In the early 1900’s in New York City, Blackwell's Island became a common location for mental asylums, prisons, and almshouses.  As Industrialization and Immigration grew more common in the city, populations were rapidly growing and New York was growing status.  Many newcomers were often seen very stressed or ill, in past-times any concerned manners or diseases could be seen as insane.  From this, New York City purchased Blackwell’s Island in 1828, to begin building prisons to isolate mental patients from the mainland.

Blackwell’s Island was built for “incurables” which often referred to people who suffered from many chronic mental or physical disabilities. Many facilities were separated by gender, just as many new buildings and corporations separated sex.  Male patients often lived in better conditions and newer mental facilities while women deeply suffered and had to face more insanity. Each asylum's living conditions were extremely filthy and poor, just as many new creations from industrialization were. During Industrialization, segregation was common and unsanitary disorganization grew, even in businesses and corporations.  This caused many issues within society and created imbalances.

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Photo of Blackwell's Island Asylum exterior, the asylum many patients of claimed insanity would be quartered.

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Patients in Blackwell's Mental Institution had to unfortunately face many rough conditions within their stay, despite their physical and mental health. The baths were extremely cold and the rooms were unsanitary. Each asylum was extremely overcrowded and extremely cold. Along with this, meals were improperly made and often arranged in messy manners, the food was also regularly rotten. Patients inside each rooms were isolated away and each room was extremely dark. The furniture within the asylums were also in extremely poor conditions with poor materials. Many inhumane treatments were frequently put onto patients, abuse from caregivers was seen often at Blackwell’s Island.

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In order to enter Blackwell’s Asylum, you must first be admitted and accepted for insanity.  Police and doctors first check patient’s symptoms and analyze their behaviors and emotions.  Any concerning manners of emotions would automatically consider the person as mentally-unstable.

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Nellie Bly was a journalist woman in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.  She increased the success of stunt journalism and was the first woman who created an impact in the business. She played hundreds of roles, each role becoming a story for women's awareness.  All of Nellie’s works contributed to social change and awareness.  She decided to play a new role, which was the role of insanity.  She worked to enter Blackwell’s Asylum to write an expose, and show recognition to the poor conditions women faced in these asylums.

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Nellie was born in Pennsylvania in 1864, her real name is Elizabeth, but she never enjoyed being called by her name.  Originally she worked in housekeeping and babysitting to make money while her family went to work other jobs.  She was highly educated and knew she wanted more for herself. One day when reading the paper Nellie came across an article of a man insulting and discrediting women in the work forces, she took it upon herself to reach out.  She sent a personal letter to the newspaper company, where she eventually got a job in writing for 5 dollars a week. When she started she got stereotypical topics in journalism that she had no interest in, she fought until she got better roles in writing.

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When Nellie began her role of insanity, she first had to be allowed admission to the asylum.  She began practicing acts of insanity at home, and put much effort into the process.  She cut her bangs short, read frightful stories, practiced emotional manners, and mastered crazy stares.  She first entered the temporary home, which had a cost of 50 cents per night.  The home was very overcrowded, and Nellie described each patient as uncheerful and crazy.  Nellie made a persona of an emotional poor woman, the caregivers there felt such pity for her and many of the other women truly believed she was crazy.  The caregiver referred her for checkup with the police to soon be admitted to Blackwell’s Island. The officers checking up on her accused her of being crazy and being on drugs based on her persona and what the others at the home were mentioning.  This further led to her admission to the asylum, now her journey began.

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As Nellie arrived, she saw all the rough conditions women had to face. At the Island, nurses had zero to no care for the patient's true feelings. The women inside had to work jobs, stay in isolation, and be in constant depressing environments. The whole asylum was extremely cold, Nellie describes seeing patients shiver and have blue tones in skin.  Many of the patients were often crying, yelling, and being disastrous. Times of the day were spent sitting in chairs for hours on end, in pure quiet and seclusion.  The food was often rotten and hard to consume.  Patients who showed their emotions and symptoms were often beaten and abused.  Nellie saw each terror in the asylum, and called out its need for change.

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She sacrificed herself for a role, in order to spread awareness for women in need. As she met new women, each with a different sad story, she worked and wrote to show their perspectives.  Her expose “Ten Days in a Mad-House” caused many social changes and gave her honor as a journalist.  Nellie was a brave woman, and her contributions to change women's rights were valuable. From her story, social changes and fundings started to occur in asylums. The government took action from her call outs, and conditions for patients and within asylums soon changed in better ways. Acts were passed to create better resources for mental patients, and soon mental health care had a good stability. Nellie passed in 1922, but her remembrance stays clear in history today.