In the late 1800s, conditions at many mental institutions were horrible--patients were abused, isolated, and neglected. In 1887, reporter Nellie Bly got herself admitted to a New York City mental asylum by pretending to be crazy. Her goal was to report on the substandard conditions. Here is an excerpt from her book Ten Days in a Mad-House, which she wrote after being released:
Take a perfectly sane and healthy woman, shut her up and make her sit from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on straight-back benches, do not allow her to talk or move during these hours, give her no reading and let her know nothing of the world or its doings, give her bad food and harsh treatment, and see how long it will take to make her insane. Two months would make her a mental and physical wreck.”
Because of Bly's reporting, asylums made improvements and were given better funding. Bly was one of many journalist who was a called muckraker--a reform-minded American journalists who dug up dirt on disgusting business practices and exposed corrupt politicians. Muckrakers gained a large readership in popular magazines and often convinced federal and state governments to take action. The term muckraker was coined by Theodore Roosevelt. It refers to those who raked up muck--that is, the dirty practices that business people and politicians tried to hide from the public.
These journalists exposed unfair child labor practices (such as the young boys who worked in mines and looked like deformed, old men), discrimination against African Americans, food and safety issues, corrupt business practices, accidents in the steel industry (as detailed in an article called "Making Steel and Killing Men"), and patient abuses in insane asylums.
The title page of Ida M. Tarbell's 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company, faced by a portrait of John D. Rockefeller by George Varian
Journalists aided the reformers by exposing injustices and corruption. Investigative reporters wrote newspaper and magazine stories that brought problems to the attention of the public—and gained readers. These journalists were called muckrakers because they “raked” (brought to light) the “muck” (dirt and corruption) underlying society. One of the most effective muckrakers, Lincoln Steffens, reported for McClure’s Magazine.
Steffens exposed corrupt machine politics in New York, Chicago, and other cities. One such article, called “Tweed Days in Saint Louis”, showed how New York-style corruption was found in the Midwest, too. His articles, collected in a book called The Shame of the Cities (1904), strengthened the demand for urban reform. Ida Tarbell, also writing for McClure’s, described the unfair practices of the oil trust. Her articles led to public pressure for more government control over big business. In her 1904 book, The History of the Standard Oil Company, she warned of the giant corporation’s power. She outlined and documented the cutthroat business practices behind John Rockefeller's quick rise. Tarbell's motives may also have been personal, as her own father had been driven out of business by Rockefeller.
The cover of the first edition of The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
In his novel The Jungle (1906), Upton Sinclair described the horrors of the meatpacking industry in Chicago. A loyal Socialist, Sinclair’s aim was to arouse sympathy for the workers. However, his vivid descriptions shocked Americans. Sinclair said that he aimed for America's heart and instead hit its stomach. Sinclair uncovered the contents of products being sold to the public. Spoiled meat was covered with chemicals to hide the smell. Skin, hair, stomach, ears, and nose were ground up and packaged as head cheese. Rats climbed over warehouse meat, leaving piles of excrement behind.
This was also spurred by the reaction of President Theodore Roosevelt to Sinclair’s work. It was once reported that Roosevelt was one morning eating his breakfast sausage while reading Sinclair’s book. It turned his stomach so much that he vowed to act. The uproar caused by Sinclair’s book helped persuade Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act in 1906. That same year, Congress also passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, requiring accurate labeling of food and medicine and banning the sale of harmful food.
