Perspiration vs. Inspiration: The Journalistic Genius of Ida Tarbell and Nellie Bly

Abstract

In August 2020, the country will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution,
which gave women the right to vote. Two of the most influential women in Western Pennsylvania’s history, Ida Minerva Tarbell and Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, aka Nellie Bly, both had journalism careers that intersected with the women’s suffrage movement. The similarities end there—their contrasting stories are as different in the invention of unique styles of investigative journalism as in their relationship to women’s rights.

PDF
The Historical Society retains the right to reprint articles in any format or media, and retains the right to grant that permission to others.