Elizabeth Cochran

"What are women suitable for?" This is an editorial in Pittsburgh express in 1885. It says: decent women can only live in seclusion and wait for men to marry. If a woman unfortunately fails to get married, she can only stay in the home of her parents or relatives, be a unpaid housekeeper or a nanny.

At this time, the editor was so angry that she immediately wrote a letter to the editor. The letter said: the country is wasting half of the people's wisdom, wisdom and skills in vain. Women should occupy the same position as men in society. The 18-year-old girl didn't dare to sign her name on the letter, but it was the last time she didn't do what women should do.

She's Elizabeth Cochran.

George Madden, editor of express, was deeply moved by the unsigned letter. Both the style and logic are excellent. He immediately put an advertisement in the newspaper: "invite the gentleman who wrote to criticize our editorial" to meet with him to discuss writing articles for the newspaper in the future.

When Cochran came, Madden was surprised. No woman has ever dared to break into a newspaper office. Madden simply said: his newspaper never employs women. Cochran argued, and Madden had to give in and suggested that she write some fancy news. Cochran refused. She insisted on writing in a serious genre. Madden gave in again, but he asked Cochran to use a man's name. Cochran refused again. While they were arguing, a guy from the newspaper walked by and played Nelly

Bligh, a popular song by American folk master Stephen foster. Cochran had an idea and used it

Lily Bligh made a pseudonym.

Cochran started doing things women had never done before. She went to factories, hospitals and relief homes for interviews.

Once, she found a job in a bottle factory. Cochran and the female workers worked 14 hours a day in the workshop with rats. In order to earn five dollars, they have to work six days a week. The women workers did not know her true identity and confided their sufferings to her. Cochran listened carefully and remembered that her disclosure article shocked Pittsburgh.

At the age of 19, Cochran went to Mexico for an interview. There, she wrote about poverty, drug abuse and government corruption. All this angered the Mexican government, and she was forced to leave Mexico and return home. After returning home, she continued to write, telling the American people what happened to Mexican women.

It wasn't long before Cochran went to New York and became a reporter in Joseph Pulitzer's Le Monde. She wanted to write an article about blackway Island, a madhouse on the East River in New York. She suggested to Pulitzer that the best way to investigate is to dress up as a madman herself, so that she can keep company with other madmen to master first-hand materials. Pulitzer agreed.

Cochran began to prepare. She practiced screaming, making faces and staring blankly at people. Then she went to the south of New York to find a boarding room. She told the landlord in Spanish, which she had learned in Mexico, that she was the heir of a wealthy Cuban family and that she was now waiting for a truck from Havana to take her home. Then she cried and cried, calling for her servant. Cochran was taken to the hospital and from there to blackway island.

In blackway Island, Cochran found everything: the doctors here are ruthless; Nurses are ruthless; Food is disgusting and living conditions are filthy. The patients were treated inhumanely. She also found that although it was a lunatic asylum, not all the people in it were lunatics. Some people are just old and ill, and they are treated with the same cruelty. They were beaten, starved and locked up in a room like a cell.

Ten days later, Cochran was released on bail. As soon as she got home, she wrote a series of articles entitled "behind the iron bars of the madhouse". These articles caused a sensation in New York and the whole country, forcing the government to investigate the madhouse and allocate a sum of money to improve the conditions of the madhouse.

Cochran's next target is the United States, a small factory with low wages, poor working conditions and cruel exploitation of workers - "sweatshop". When she saw a newspaper advertisement for a carton factory, she went and was hired. So from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., she was locked up in a hut lit by gas lights. Many workers in the factory are 12-year-old women. For the first two weeks, they were not paid. In this way, factories often hire them for only two weeks, and then fire them without giving them a penny. Cochran also used her sharp pen to write disclosure articles and urged the law to protect these women workers.

Karen fought for her rights with the courage of American women. But she was not satisfied. She also wants to conquer the larger world. In 1872, Jules Verne, a French science fiction novelist, wrote the famous best-selling novel (80 days around the world). The protagonist Phyllis Fogg spent 80 days on a global trip after various difficulties. Cochran announced that she wanted to break the record, and Le Monde agreed to support her. In this way, Cochran set out from New Jersey on the morning of November 14, 1889.

Despite the storm and disease, Cochran kept walking and sent back telegrams and letters to Le Monde. The whole country watched the girl with great enthusiasm and curiosity. America is jubilant. Some people write books for her and others sing for her. How many flowers, how many trains, how many racehorses are named after Cochran. When she arrived in San Francisco, thousands of people went to the dock to meet her. The women walked in front of her carriage with flags, the band played for her and the audience cheered for her. When she crossed the United States by train, she was warmly welcomed at every station. In Kansas, she was even asked to run for governor.

She's back. After 72 days, she returned to the dock in New Jersey. She set a new record for traveling around the world. American women are proud of her. The governor of New Jersey said, "American women will no longer be discriminated against. They will be seen as determined, independent and able to take care of themselves under any circumstances."

For the rest of his life, Cochran also struggled to improve the status of American women. She runs her own newspaper and runs a factory. Later, her factory closed down. She returned to New York and became a little reporter in the New York Evening News.

Elizabeth Cochran died in 1922. Her life has contributed to the liberation of American women. In 1920, the United States Congress passed the 19th Amendment, which recognized women's right to vote. The working conditions of women have greatly improved. Times have changed. Women are no longer satisfied. They just stay at home. They go to society.