FIRST -- Pieces of Investigative Journalism - New York, NY
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bluesnote
N 40° 45.458 W 073° 57.283
18T E 588231 N 4512378
A historical marker located inside the Roosevelt Island Visitor Center in New York City.
Waymark Code: WMZWM8
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 01/14/2019
Views: 1
The plaque says, "The New York City Lunatic Asylum opened in 1839 to house psychiatric patients. Steamer boats transported patients to the island where they were separated from the rest of society. Charles Dickens described the "founding, listless, madhouse air" of the institution in his book American Notes, written after his 1842 visit.
In 1887, New York World reporter Elizabeth Cochrane, writing under the pseudonym Nellie Bly, feigned strange behavior and was brought to the Asylum. On assignment from publisher Joseph Pulitzer, Bly received the same treatment as the patients. her report, later published as the book Ten Days in a Madhouse, is considered among the first pieces of investigative journalism and led to improvements in the treatment of psychiatric patients.
The Asylum building became part of the Metropolitan Hospital in 1894, and shuttered in 1955. The landmark Octagon, originally the administration center and main entrance hall of the facility, was restored in 2006. New Wings were added and the structure is now a residential apartment house."
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: Not listed
More Information - Web URL: Not listed
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