Bly’s life before this hadn’t exactly been simple, something which may have helped her develop her intense levels of badass. Born the 13th child out of 15, Bly’s father died when she was six, leaving her mother and siblings with nothing due to will issues. Her stepfather was an abusive drunk, whom Bly described in court as being “generally drunk since he married my mother. When drunk he is very cross, and [he is] cross when sober.”

Bly’s initial work for the Dispatch showed glimpses of the journalistic style she would go on to develop. She covered the difficulties faced by working class women and girls, the urgent need for reforming the state’s divorce laws, and the lives of local factory workers. So the editors decided after this to put her in the ‘women’s interest’ pages and have her cover minor fashion events and flower shows. Bly tried to get back to serious reporting by having herself sent to Mexico to write as the Dispatch’s foreign correspondent, but this only lasted for a few months before she was returned once again to the women’s pages.

Did Bly settle for a career writing lighthearted fluff, or give up journalism, accepting Wilson’s claim that a woman doing more serious work would be “a monstrosity”? Of course she didn’t, because she was awesome. She left a suitably withering note for Wilson and moved to New York in order to find work on a paper that would take her seriously.

Now, getting into journalism is not an easy task. It isn’t easy now and it wasn’t easy in 1887, particularly if you happened to be poor and female. Generally after six months of failing to get a job, one might give up and return home to do something easier. The people covered in this series are not the sort of people who give up and go home when things get hard, however, and after six months of knocking on doors Bly managed an interview at the New York World, owned by Joseph Pulitzer (he of the prize). The editor, John Cockerill, – possibly in an attempt to deter her – challenged Bly to write a piece on Blackwell’s Island, then home to a notorious New York asylum.

In order to fully appreciate how blazingly fantastic what Bly did next was, it’s important to realise that investigative journalism wasn’t really a thing that existed at that point. People didn’t go undercover to write reports, or press closely-guarded inside sources for facts. It just wasn’t something that happened. This is what made Nellie Bly a pioneering journalist: she went undercover, and feigning insanity for 10 days, managed to have herself sent as a patient to the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island to see for herself what was going on. This was particularly bold, as she had no guarantee she would be able to secure her release when the piece was done, and indeed had some difficulty regaining her freedom. She came back with a story of cruelty, beatings and poor conditions – examples of pretty much everything that was wrong with 19th century mental health care. Not only did Bly’s report get her the job at the New York World, it also drew public and political attention to the institution. This brought money and much needed changes, improving the lives of the people treated there. An impressive achievement for someone only just starting their career.

Could I pass a week in the insane ward at Blackwell’s Island? I said I could and I would. And I did.

– Nellie Bly

Pioneering the field of investigative journalism and spending her career writing important pieces on workers’ rights, the treatment of women, and other socially important issues wasn’t quite enough for Bly, however. She still had a significant quantity of badass in her that she needed to make use of, and there was only one outlet for it that held sufficient coolness: a race around the world. Phileas Fogg’s 80 day trip around the world was all well and good, but it was fictional. Bly was going to be the first person to do it for real, and she was going to do it better.

"ROUND THE WORLD WITH NELLIE BLY": 1890 illustration published by New York World - a boardgame square for every day of Bly's adventure

So, by the age of 26, Bly had pioneered a new form of journalism, written countless important pieces in support of worker’s rights and women’s suffrage, and set the record for the fastest solo trip around the world. Doing either of these things is enough to cement someone’s claim to brilliance, let alone both.

It is only after one is in trouble that one realizes how little sympathy and kindness there are in the world.

– Nellie Bly

For interesting further reading on Bly, there is the excellently thorough Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist by Brooke Kroeger, and Bly’s own Ten Days in a Mad-House.

• Unsung Heroes: a new series on BadRep spotlighting fascinating people we never learned about at school…

Guest blogger Rob Mulligan blogs atStuttering Demagogue.Stay tuned for future Heroes.