Opening Its Doors in 1839
A narrow island in the middle of the East River, Blackwell’s Island, remained in private hands until 1828. Then, the city of New York acquired it for $32,000 (about $750,000 today). Four years later, a penitentiary was built there. The goal was apparently to keep dangerous prisoners away from the city (similar to Alcatraz).
Blackwell’s Island. Photo by Historia / Shutterstock
In 1839, another institution opened its doors on the island, The New York City Lunatic Asylum. Nellie Bly arrived almost 50 years later after the institution had developed a dirty reputation. So were the allegations about the facility’s abuse and malpractice true? Pulitzer tasked his eager, new reporter with finding out the truth.