The Girl Puzzle Monument honoring activist and journalist Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, pen name Nellie Bly (1864-1922), is a public sculptural installation by American artist Amanda Matthews, CEO/Partner of Prometheus Art Bronze Foundry and Metal Fabrication. The installation is located on the northern tip of Roosevelt Island in Lighthouse Park (named after the Blackwell Island Light) in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The location is significant because of its proximity to the remains of the old Blackwell Island Asylum - The Octagon is the last remnant of the original building where Nellie Bly went undercover as a patient while working as a reporter at the New York World. Nellie Bly wrote of the mistreatment of patients at the asylum in a series of articles and then in 1887 had them compiled into a book, Ten Days in a Mad-House.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) awarded to Amanda Matthews the project as the result of a widely published open call for artists.[1] In a press release by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Susan Rosenthal (the then President and CEO of RIOC) stated, "The committee, made up of RIOC employees and community leaders, unanimously selected this bold installation that will not only represent Nellie Bly's time here, but her impact on the world."[2] The initial unveiling was scheduled for 2020,[3] but was rescheduled for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
Nellie Bly circa 1890
Concept
Amanda Matthews named the art installation after Nellie Bly's first published article, "The Girl Puzzle", which ran on January 25, 1885, in the Pittsburgh Dispatch newspaper. Only twenty years old, coming from a large working-class family, Bly had bravely responded to a previously published misogynist complaint about women wage-earners, and the editor hired her to write again for the newspaper, eventually as a full-time reporter. She chose her pseudonym after the title of a popular song by Stephen Foster, "Nelly Bly", but the misspelling of "Nellie" by the newspaper stuck. Her series of articles exposing the harrowing experiences of women factory workers in Pittsburgh led to the anger of local industrialists, and she eventually left to serve as a foreign correspondent in Mexico.
Nellie Bly's undercover work in New York
New York City Asylum for the Insane, 1890s
In 1887 Bly went to New York City and began working as the first female reporter for the New York World. She planned a ruse in which she would trick everyone into being admitted to the notoriously violent New York City Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island, now Roosevelt Island, in the East River. Assuming the name Bly Brown, she began her journey at a boarding house for women and quickly convinced the house matron, the policemen sent to remove her, the judge and eventually the Asylum's overworked psychiatrists that she was insane. She experienced not only the worst of the misogynist and xenophobic assumptions by the city's bureaucracy but also the abusive treatment of those deemed mentally ill. After only a few days, she tried to convince the asylum staff that she was not ill, but it was only after the New York World sent an attorney that she was finally released. Her first article (of six), "Behind Asylum Bars," ran on Sunday, October 9, 1887, and the City aldermen allotted an extra one million dollars a year to correct the abuses that Bly eventually exposed in her full report Ten Days in a Mad-House.[5]
Cover of Bly's book Ten Days in a Mad-House
Three parts to the installation
Placement of The Puzzle Girl within the Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island
The installation takes up the center of the Lighthouse Park, a 3.5-acre park at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island, with a 50-foot tall lighthouse constructed by asylum patients in 1872[6] and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.[7] The community park was designed by landscape architect Nicholas Quennell in 1977 to encourage visitors to bring picnics or to fish.[8] The installation will bind the two landmarks—the remains of the New York Insane Asylum, The Octagon, and the lighthouse—together.
Artist rendering of The Puzzle Girl plaza looking north toward the Lighthouse
The artist Amanda Matthews described the importance of Nellie Bly's undercover work at the asylum, asserting that Bly "gave a voice and a face to women who had no visibility or prominence in society."[9] The installation is composed of three distinct parts:
Five, giant seven-foot tall bronze faces represent different women, including a portrait of Nellie Bly. Each of the four other faces are rendered in partial sections to make them appear as puzzle pieces but also to show the depth of emotions of being broken and repaired.
Three large stainless steel spheres within the walkway, represent different stages of Bly's life and career.
The plaza itself, in which a 60-foot walkway and access walkway join the east and west promenades, allows visitors to view the spheres and faces from multiple angles, while seeing themselves and the surrounding cityscape in the reflective surfaces of the spheres. In this way, the viewer becomes part of The Girl Puzzle.Artist rendering of The Puzzle Girl plaza looking east toward the New York City borough of Queens
Faces
The portrait of Nellie Bly as a young woman is cast in silver bronze. The other faces, cast in bronze and portrayed in broken sections, include an Asian-American woman, an African-American woman, a young girl, and an older LGBTQ woman. These women are not specific people from Bly's life, but are inspired by women in the artist's life.[10] The Asian-American woman's face was inspired by a woman who was 18 years old when, by Executive Order, she was imprisoned at the Rohwer War Relocation Center for several years. The African-American woman's face was inspired by a mother who dedicated her life to helping others after enduring the grief and agony of losing her infant child. The young girl's face depicts a child who was the subject of court cases where she had no voice. The older woman depicts a member of the LGBTQ community who has publicly advocated for civil rights and equality. Words written by Nellie Bly are inscribed on the inside of the female faces, providing visual and written clues to the story of marginalized and impoverished working women's lives.[11]
Spheres
The three stainless steel spheres represent different stages of Nellie Bly's life. They increase in size, from two feet to four feet then six feet tall, showing her amplified voice over the course of her career as an investigative journalist, women's rights advocate, inventor and patent holder. Her trip around the world, traveling seventy-two days mostly on her own, is represented in the largest sphere. For the park visitor, the mirrored spheres allow for a visual representation of themselves "as part of the story."[12]
Plaza and Walkway
The 60-foot walkway leads the visitor from the direction of The Octagon toward the lighthouse at the north end of Roosevelt Island. At the northern end of the plaza is the silvery bronze portrait of Bly. The accessible pathway, with space for visitors who use wheelchairs, includes braille plaques with audio links describing each face. The plaza thus creates a welcoming experience for all with full ADA compliance. Overall, the plaza evokes the essence of a Japanese Zen Garden, honoring Bly's love of Japan.[13]
Installation
The installation of The Girl Puzzle was planned for April 2021.[14] However, the official opening of the monument finally occurred on Friday, December 10, 2021, at Roosevelt Island’s Lighthouse Park (910 Main Street). The opening of the monument, according to the announcement by New York Governor Kathy Hochul was set on a day to coincide with International Human Rights Day.[15] Press coverage included:
Nellie Davis Ross was an American educator and politician who served as the 14th governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927, and as the 28th and first female director of the United States Mint from 1933 to 1953. She was the first woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state, and remains the only woman to have served as governor of Wyoming. She was a Democrat and supported Prohibition. She ran for re-election but refused to campaign herself.
Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85th Streets on Manhattan Island, it is about 2 miles (3.2 km) long, with a maximum width of 800 feet (240 m), and a total area of 147 acres (0.59 km2). Together with Mill Rock, Roosevelt Island constitutes Manhattan's Census Tract 238, which has a land area of 0.279 sq mi (0.72 km2), and had a population of 11,722 as of the 2020 United States Census.
Elizabeth Cochran Seaman, better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist, who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days in emulation of Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she worked undercover to report on a mental institution from within. She was a pioneer in her field and launched a new kind of investigative journalism.
Carolyn Gold Heilbrun was an American academic at Columbia University, the first woman to receive tenure in the English department, and a prolific feminist author of academic studies. In addition, beginning in the 1960s, she published numerous popular mystery novels with a woman protagonist, under the pen name of Amanda Cross. These have been translated into numerous languages and in total sold nearly one million copies worldwide.
Frances Perkins was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourth United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of the Democratic Party, Perkins was the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her longtime friend, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped make labor issues important in the emerging New Deal coalition. She was one of two Roosevelt cabinet members to remain in office for his entire presidency.
Martha Ellis Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) is a New York State public-benefit corporation responsible for developing Roosevelt Island, a small island in the East River that is part of the New York City borough of Manhattan.
The Octagon, built in 1834, is a historic octagonal building and attached apartment block complex located at 888 Main Street on Roosevelt Island in New York City. It originally served as the main entrance to the New York City Mental Health Hospital, which opened in 1841. Designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, the five-story rotunda was made of blue-gray stone that was quarried on the island. The Octagon is the last remnant of the hospital, and after many years of decay and two fires, was close to ruin. After restoration, it has now been incorporated into the adjacent buildings to create a large apartment complex.
Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book by American journalist Nellie Bly. It was initially published as a series of articles for the New York World. Bly later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887.
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office, making her the longest-serving first lady of the United States. Through her travels, public engagement, and advocacy, she largely redefined the role of First Lady. Roosevelt then served as a United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952, and in 1948 she was given a standing ovation by the assembly upon their adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.
Blackwell Island Lighthouse, now known as Roosevelt Island Lighthouse, also was known as Welfare Island Lighthouse, is a stone lighthouse built by the government of New York City in 1872. It is within Lighthouse Park at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island in the East River. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1972 and was designated a New York City Landmark on March 23, 1976.
Kathleen Hochul is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of New York since August 24, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she is New York's first female governor, as well as the first governor from Upstate New York since Nathan L. Miller became New York's governor in 1920.
Amanda Heng Liang Ngim is a contemporary artist, curator and speaker from Singapore, who works in Singapore and internationally. As an artist she has a multidisciplinary practice, working collaboratively in contemporary art exhibitions, performance, forums, workshops and art interventions. Her practice explores themes of national identity, collective memory and social relationships, gender politics and other social issues in urban, contemporary Singaporean society. She is the recipient of the 2019 Singapore Biennale's Benesse Prize.
Amanda Matthews is an American sculptor and painter from Louisville, Kentucky, United States, who lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
Annabel Matthews was the first woman to serve as a judge of the United States Board of Tax Appeals, having been appointed to that office by President Herbert Hoover in 1930.
Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya is a multidisciplinary artist and speaker based in Brooklyn, New York. She is behind the project I Still Believe in Our City and Beyond Curie. Phingbodhipakkiya is a neuroscientist-turned-artist and an advocate of STEM who is known for conveying complex scientific ideas via art. As an artist, Phingbodhipakkiya works with murals, textiles, sculptures, public art campaigns and participatory installations and her art often touches on themes of AAPI, women, STEM, and human rights issues.
The year 2021 in art involves various significant events.
Caroline Twigge Matthews, MBChB (1877–1927) was a British doctor and war correspondent, and was dubbed a 'war heroine'. She served in the Italian Red Cross in the 1908 Messina earthquake, and in military hospitals during the Balkans War and World War One, and was taken as a prisoner of war. She was awarded King Victor Emmanuel's Medal, the Italian Red Cross Medal, King Victor Emmanuel's Commemoration Medal and the Montenegrin Order of Danilo. When she died, the press said she was "The Florence Nightingale of the Balkans."
A stunt girl was a woman investigative journalist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States. The term was often used derogatorily.
Lighthouse Park is at the northern end of Roosevelt Island and its three acres includes Blackwell Island Light as well as a new public art piece called The Girl Puzzle honoring Nellie Bly and her work on the island's asylum.
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