In 1872, journalist Julius Chambers had himself committed to the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum to investigate the conditions at the institution. After ten days among the inmates, Chambers's articles would help free a dozen sane patients, forced an asylum reorganization and led to a change in the legislation. Fifteen years before Nellie Bly's famous "Ten Days in a Mad-House," leading muckraker Julius Chambers led the way in exposing abuse at psychiatric institutions.