What would you do if your employer asked you to infiltrate an insane aslym, live among the patients there, and report on the conditions in the asylum? For Nellie Bly, a charming Pennsylvania girl, this was the opportunity that she had been starving for. In the 19th century, it was highly unpopular for women to have careers, but Nellie Bly (born Elizabeth Cochran) dedicated herself to improving the social well-being of the disenfranchised.