Elizabeth Bisland

Born in Louisiana in 1861, Elizabeth Bisland built her career in New York as a journalist, editor, and literary figure. She wrote for magazines and newspapers at a time when few women had that kind of public platform, and she became known for her elegant style as well as her independence.

She is best remembered for joining the 1889 race around the world in competition with reporter Nellie Bly. Sent westward while Bly traveled east, Bisland turned the trip into a remarkable feat of endurance and reporting, and the contest made her internationally famous.

Beyond that headline-making journey, she published travel writing, biography, and literary criticism. She later married and became Elizabeth Bisland Wetmore, but her reputation still rests on the wit, discipline, and curiosity that made her one of the standout women journalists of her generation.