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Category: Biography

Black and white image of Nellie Bly, newspaper journalist, in a Victorian-style, houndstooth button-down dress holding a handbag in her left hand and a hat in her right hand.

“Behind Asylum Bars:” Nellie Bly Reporting from Blackwell’s Island.

Posted by: Amber Paranick

“Could I pass a week in the insane ward at Blackwell’s Island? I said I could and I would. And I did.” In 1887, investigative journalist for the New York World newspaper Nellie Bly went undercover to expose the dreadful conditions at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum, a mental institution on Blackwell’s Island. Read more about Bly’s fearless investigation and how her work forever changed the field of journalism.

Black and white image of a young woman in a long-sleeved, long white dress, dark hair pulled back, standing in front of a brick wall.

Dr. Margaret Chung: First American Born Chinese Woman Physician

Posted by: Malea Walker

The following is a guest post from Meg Metcalf, a reference librarian in the Main Reading Room, currently on detail in the Serial and Government Publications Division. “Margaret Jessie Chung has Aspirations,” the Los Angeles Herald headline read on October 10, 1905. Margaret was a 16-year-old, first-generation Chinese American who was teaching English in the …

Historical Women in STEM

Posted by: Heather Thomas

Throughout history there have been many women who have greatly contributed to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). While names like Marie Curie and Florence Nightingale are familiar to most, there are so many ingenious others who may not be as familiar; women who were leaders in their fields, who made major discoveries, and whose work led to critical social and political change. Below is a list of just some of the women who have made significant contributions to the fields of STEM. You can discover their stories through historical newspapers.