Victorian
This lovely lady is the brave and pioneering investigative journalist Nellie Bly. Bly (born Elizabeth Cochran) began her career in journalism in the late nineteenth century by adopting a pen name and launching into a new kind of investigative journalism in which she championed the poor and disenfranchised. Defying sexism and poor opportunities for young women at every turn, Bly gained fame and recognition by her distinctly empathetic and critical writing style and her willingness to undergo intense undercover investigations in order to expose corruption and its effects on the nation’s underprivileged. Her biggest story was her first assignment for Joe Pulitzer’s the “New York World”, where she posed as a mad woman in a mental asylum in order to expose the horrendous conditions and cruelty the inmates suffered. As if her continued, life-long career of advocacy wasn’t enough, this incredible woman embarked on a world trip in 1889, in order to beat the record set by Jules verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, which she finally did, arriving back in New York City after 72 days. You wish you were this cool.
Queen Victoria’s Journals
Now online!
A message from HM Queen Elizabeth II
In this the year of my Diamond Jubilee, I am delighted to be able to present, for the first time, the complete on-line collection of Queen Victoria’s journals from the Royal Archives.
These diaries cover the period from Queen Victoria’s childhood days to her Accession to the Throne, marriage to Prince Albert, and later, her Golden and Diamond Jubilees.
Thirteen volumes in Victoria’s own hand survive, and the majority of the remaining volumes were transcribed after Queen Victoria’s death by her youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, on her mother’s instructions.
It seems fitting that the subject of the first major public release of material from the Royal Archives is Queen Victoria, who was the first Monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee.
It is hoped that this historic collection will make a valuable addition to the unique material already held by the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University, and will be used to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the past.
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
I don’t usually read YA (mainly because I’m an OA), but my daughter ordered this for a presentation she’s doing in library school (well, technically, it’s called “information studies”, and she’s getting a master’s this weekend under the If You Can’t Get a Job, Get Another Degree plan). She knows about things. Book things. So I fully intend to casually walk into her room and distract her (Look! Halley’s Comet!) and subtly lift it.