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Ida M. Tarbell, 1904

Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857–January 6, 1944) was a teacher, author and journalist. She was known as one of the leading "muckrakers" of her day, work known in modern times as "investigative journalism." She wrote many notable magazine series and biographies. She is best-known for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company, which was listed number five among the top 100 works of twentieth-century American journalism by the New York Times in 1999. The inspiration for her work of The History of the Standard Oil Company was a result of her father being put out of business by John D. Rockefeller. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (432x640, 26 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Ida M. Tarbell ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (432x640, 26 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Ida M. Tarbell ... is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For university teachers, see professor. ... For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Journalist (disambiguation). ... Bold text McClures Magazine (cover, Jan, 1901) published many early muckraker articles. ... Investigative journalism is a kind of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or some other scandal. ... The History of the Standard Oil Company is a book written by journalist Ida Tarbell in 1904. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. ...

Early Life and Education

Ida Tarbell was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania. She grew up in the western portion of the state where new oil fields were developed in the 1860s. She was the daughter of Frank Tarbell, who built wooden oil storage tanks and later became an oil producer and refiner in Venango County. Her father's business, and those of many other small businessmen was adversely affected by the South Improvement Company scheme around 1872 between the railroads and larger oil interests. Later, she would vividly recall this situation in her work, as she accused the leaders of the Standard Oil Company of using unfair tactics to put her father and many small oil companies out of business. Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... The oil industry is a type of industry which brings petroleum to a financial market. ... Venango County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... The South Improvement Company was a Pennsylvania corporation in 1871-1872. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Standard Oil was an oil refining organization founded by John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) and partners beginning in 1863. ...

Ida graduated at the head of her high school class in Titusville, Pennsylvania. She majored in biology and graduated from Allegheny College, where she was the only woman in the class of 1880. Titusville is a city located in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. ... For the song by Girls Aloud see Biology (song) Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology (from Greek: βίος, bio, life; and λόγος, logos, speech lit. ... Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college located in northwestern Pennsylvania which prides itself as being one of the oldest colleges in the United States. ...

After graduating from college, Ida began her career as a science teacher at Ohio Poland Union Seminary. However, she found her life's work in writing, and changed her vocation after two years, and returned to Pennsylvania. Thereafter she began writing for The Chautauquan, a teaching supplement for home study (correspondence) courses at Chautauqua, New York. By 1886, she had become the managing editor. For university teachers, see professor. ... Chautauqua (pronounced ) is an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ...

In 1891, at the age of 34, she moved to Paris to do post-graduate work and write a biography of Madame Roland, the leader of an influential salon during the French Revolution. While in France, Ida wrote articles for various magazines. While doing so Ida caught the eye of Samuel McClure earning her position as editor for the magazine. She went to work for McClure's Magazine and wrote a popular series on Napoleon Bonaparte. Her series on Abraham Lincoln doubled the magazine's circulation, and was published in a book. These established her reputation nationally as a leading writer. This article is about the capital of France. ... Mme Roland in a portrait by Adelaide Labille-Guiard, 1787 Viscountess Jeanne Marie Roland de la Platiere, born Manon Jeanne Philipon (March 17, 1754 – November 8, 1793), became the wife of Jean Marie Roland de la Platiere and is better known simply as Madame Roland. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... McClures or McClures Magazine was a popular United States illustrated monthly magazine at the turn of the 20th century, often compared to the longer-running The Atlantic Monthly. ... Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ...

Tarbell had grown up in the western Pennsylvania oil regions where Henry H. Rogers had begun his career during the American Civil War. Beginning in 1902, she conducted detailed interviews with the Standard Oil magnate. Rogers, wily and normally guarded in matters related to business and finance, may have been under the impression her work was to be complimentary. He was apparently uncustomarily forthcoming. However, Tarbell's interviews with Rogers formed the basis for her negative exposé of the nefarious business practices of industrialist John D. Rockefeller and the massive Standard Oil organization. Her work, which became known at the time as muckraking (and is now known as investigative journalism), first ran as a series of articles, presented in installments in McClure's Magazine, which were later published together as a book, The History of the Standard Oil Company in 1904. She exposed Rockefeller's ruthless tactics and their destructive effect on other smaller oil businesses. Tarbell's exposé fueled negative public sentiment against the company and was a contributing factor in the U.S. government's antitrust legal actions against the Standard Oil Trust which eventually led to the breakup of the petroleum conglomerate in 1911. Henry Huttleston Rogers (January 29, 1840 – May 19, 1909) was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. ... Standard Oil was a predominant integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. ... Bold text McClures Magazine (cover, Jan, 1901) published many early muckraker articles. ... Investigative journalism is a kind of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or some other scandal. ... McClures or McClures Magazine was a popular United States illustrated monthly magazine at the turn of the 20th century, often compared to the longer-running The Atlantic Monthly. ... The History of the Standard Oil Company is a book written by journalist Ida Tarbell in 1904. ... This article is about anti-competitive business behavior. ...

Ida Tarbell, between 1910 and 1930.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (558x752, 42 KB) Summary Ida Tarbell - photograph taken between 1910 and 1930. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (558x752, 42 KB) Summary Ida Tarbell - photograph taken between 1910 and 1930. ...

Later career

Tarbell and most of the rest of the staff left American Magazine in 1915. After that time, although she also contributed to Collier's Weekly, a large part of Tarbell's schedule began to include the lecture circuit. She became interested in the peace effort, serving on many committees. She continued to write and to teach biography. She published a 1926 interview with Benito Mussolini, whom she admired. Colliers (May 7, 1932) Colliers Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. ... Mussolini redirects here. ...

She also wrote several books on the role of women including The Business of Being a Woman (1912) and The Ways of Woman (1915). Her last published work was her autobiography, All in the Day's Work. Many of her books were to help women during their time of despair and hopelessness.

Death and Legacy

Ida Tarbell died of pneumonia on her farm in Easton, Connecticut at the age of 86 in 1944. The Ida Tarbell House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993. Easton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. ...

In 1999, her 654-page book The History of the Standard Oil Company was listed number five among the top 100 works of twentieth-century American journalism by the New York Times. The History of the Standard Oil Company is a book written by journalist Ida Tarbell in 1904. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

In 2000, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. On September 14, 2002, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring Tarbell as part of a series of four stamps honoring women journalists.^[1] The National Womens Hall of Fame was created in 1969 by a group of people in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the first American womens rights convention, now known to historians as the 1848 Womens Rights Convention. ... Seneca Falls refers to a town and a village in Seneca County, New York: Seneca Falls (town) Seneca Falls (village) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

"Imagination is the only key to the future. Without it none exists - with it all things are possible."

Ida M. Tarbell

References

1. ^ USPS Press Release (September 14, 2002), Four Accomplished Journalists Honored on U.S. Postage Stamps

Further reading

• The History of the Standard Oil Company, 2 vols., Gloucester, Mass: Peter Smith, 1963 {1904}.

• All in The Days Work: An Autobiography, New York: Macmillan, 1939.

• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Ron Chernow, London: Warner Books, 1998. and also was one of the very famous muckrakers.

See also

• John D. Rockefeller
• Rockefeller family
• Standard Oil and its employees
• South Improvement Company
• Henry H. Rogers
• McClure's
• Muckrakers
• Allegheny College

John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. ... The Rockefeller family, the family of John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) (Senior) and his brother William Rockefeller (1841-1922), is an American industrial, banking, philanthropic, and political family of German American origin that made the worlds largest private fortune in the oil business during the late 19th and early... Standard Oil was a predominant integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. ... The South Improvement Company was a Pennsylvania corporation in 1871-1872. ... Henry Huttleston Rogers (January 29, 1840 – May 19, 1909) was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. ... McClures or McClures Magazine was a popular United States illustrated monthly magazine at the turn of the 20th century, often compared to the longer-running The Atlantic Monthly. ... In American English, a muckraker is a journalist or an author who searches for and exposes scandals and abuses occurring in business and politics. ... Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college located in northwestern Pennsylvania which prides itself as being one of the oldest colleges in the United States. ...

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

Ida M. Tarbell

• Harvard University Library Open Collections Program. Women Working, 1870-1930, Ida Tarbell (1857–1944). A full-text searchable online database with complete access to publications written by Ida Tarbell.
• The Ida Tarbell Home Page
• American Experience: The Rockefellers
• National Women's Hall of Fame - Ida Tarbell
• The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida Tarbell
• Works by Ida M. Tarbell at Project Gutenberg
• Biography of Ida Tarbell found in Gale Group
• Ida Tarbell and the "Business of Being a Woman" by Paula Treckel
• Ida Tarbell Society Monthly Giving Program with Corporate Accountability International
• February 13, 1916, New York Times, Our Rich Authors Make Cheap Literature; Ida M. Tarbell Laments Tendency of Some of Our Modern Writers to Sacrifice Their Independence and Self-Respect for the Sake of High Prices