This is dedicated to lesser known Irish Americans. Everyone is aware of John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie (her mother was from County Clare). Sure Ronald Regan was Irish as was Maureen O'Hara and Bruce Springsteen has a bit of the "green" in his heritage. Walt Disney's father was Anglo-Irish. Bareknuckle boxing champion, John L. Sullivan's parents were both Irish immigrants. Henry Ford's father was born in County Cork. Both of Eugene O'Neill's parents were Irish immigrants. Of course, you know that he won the Nobel Prize for literature and also his plays won four Pulitzer Prizes for drama.
Have you heard of Nellie Bly?
Nellie Bly was the pen-name of Elizabeth Jane Seaman. She was the thirteenth daughter of Michael Corchran, the son of Irish immagrants from County Londonderry. Her mother was Mary Jane Kennedy.
Nelly was a fearless female journalist of the late 19th and early 20th century. She was the first of immersion (some called it stunt) journalists. She got herself put into a mental hospital to write about the abuses there. She traveled around the world in 72 days to prove Jules Verne's 80 days was no big deal. She wrote books and worked regularly as a newspaper reporter.
Nelly is in the National Women's Hall of Fame. Her face was placed on a U.S. postage stamp. The New York Press Club confers a Nelly Bly award each year to cub reporters and the Museum of Political Corruption gives a Nelly Bly award to an investigative journalist annually.
Nelly is an Irish American worthy of pride.
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