I shuddered to think how completely the insane were in the power of their keepers, and how one could weep and plead for release, and all of no avail, if the keepers were so minded.

"Positively demented" said one "I consider it a hopeless case. She refused to go to bed telling the boarders that Nellie Bly was afraid of them and that they looked crazy. Other recognition
In 1998 Nellie Bly was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

In addition to her writing Nellie Bly was also an industrialist and charity worker. She remains notable for two feats: a record-breaking trip around the world in emulation of Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg and an exposé in which Nellie Bly faked insanity to study a mental institution from within.