Albert Brisbane (1809-1890), social reformer, was born in Batavia, N. Y., the son of James and Mary (Stevens) Brisbane. He was sent to a boarding-school on Long Island, and then studied in New York City under private tutors. He traveled to Europe, where he was influenced by the ideas of Charles Fourier, the French utopian socialist. Poor health on his return to the United States in 1834 dampened his Fourierism campaign, but in 1840 he published Social Destiny of Man: or, Association and Reorganization of Industry . After striking up a friendship with Horace Greely, he began writing for the Tribune . His "hasty propaganda" gave birth to numerous experiments in Associationism, as he called his theories, the general failure of which caused a waning of interest in the whole movement. In 1876, he published General Introduction to Social Sciences containing the essence of Fourier's social theory and a translation of his History of Universal Unity . Brisbane was a highly educated man with a vigorous mind, but he failed as a social reformer because he lacked an ability to lead, as well as a realization of the practical difficulties in the way of a universal panacea for evil. He wrote with comparative ease as well as fervor, but only as object lessons in social reform have his writings survived the movement of which they were a part. [adapted from American Authors 1600-1900, (1938)]
With his first wife, Sarah White, Albert had three children, one of whom, Arthur (1864-1937), would go on to become a successful writer and newspaper editor. After completing his education in the United States and Europe, Arthur Brisbane took his first newspaper job as a reporter with the New York Sun . He went on to hold jobs as an editor at the Sun, the New York World, and the New York Evening Journal . He remained editor of the Evening Journal until 1921 and continued to write for the paper as a columnist until his death. Brisbane was known for his punchy prose style and fondness for short, blaring headlines. By the time of his death he was the highest paid newspaper writer in the world ($260,000 a year). [ Adapted from from World Authors 1900-1950, (1996)]
Born in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman (1864-1922) adopted the pen name Nellie Bly from a popular song when working as a journalist for the Pittsburgh Dispatch, where she reported on issues of reform and taboo subjects such as divorce. Moving to New York, she worked for Joseph Pulitzer's World, writing dramatic exposés of working conditions, women prisoners, and other issues. She was given an assignment to travel around the world in less than 80 days, which she achieved in 1889. Her accounts of the expedition, which was undertaken by public transport, became front-page news. She worked with Arthur Brisbane at the New York World and the New York Evening Journal . [from Chambers Biographical Dictionary, (1997)]
From the guide to the Brisbane Family Papers, 1819-1965., (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
