Ida Tarbell Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Ida Tarbell
OCCUPATION: Journalist
BIRTH DATE: November 05, 1857
DEATH DATE: January 06, 1944
EDUCATION: Allegheny College

PLACE OF BIRTH: Village of Hatch Hollow, Erie County, Pennsylvania
PLACE OF DEATH: Bridgeport, Connecticut

more about Ida

Best Known For

Ida Tarbell was an American journalist born in 1857 who uncovered the unfair businesses practices of Standard Oil which she published in McClure's magazine.

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Ida Tarbell

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Ida Tarbell. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 11:14, May 22, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/ida-tarbell-9502126

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' Ida Tarbell', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/ida-tarbell-9502126 [accessed May 22, 2012]

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Synopsis

Ida Tarbell, born in 1857, was an American journalist. She was the only woman to graduate in 1880 from Allegheny College. She joined the staff of McClure's magazine in 1894. Her most well known project was uncovering the unfair businesses practices of Standard Oil, findings she published. Her work supplied evidence for the U.S. Supreme Court's 1911 decision to break up the Standard Oil monopoly.

Profile

Journalist, writer, social reformer. Born on November 5, 1857, in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Known largely for her articles against big business, Ida Tarbell excelled as a journalist at a time when few women were in this field. She graduated from Allegheny College in 1880—the only woman in her class. After spending a short time teaching, Tarbell joined the staff of The Chautauquan, a monthly magazine, in 1883.

From 1891 to 1894, Ida Tarbell studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and worked as a freelance writer. Joining McClure's, a popular magazine, as an editor in 1894, she started out by writing biographies. Tarbell later began her best-known project—an examination of the Standard Oil Company. She was familiar with the oil business; her father had been an oilman. Showing great determination, Tarbell dug into the Rockefellers' family oil monopoly and uncovered their unfair business practices. Her discoveries were first published in the magazine and later were published as the book The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904). Her work contributed to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to break up the Standard Oil monopoly in 1911.

One of the greatest journalists of the twentieth century, Ida Tarbell was a pioneer in investigative reporting. She died on January 6, 1944. In 2000, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Two years later, Tarbell was honored by having her likeness appear on a U.S. postage stamp as part of the Women in Journalism stamp series, along with Nellie Bly, Marguerite Higgins, and Ethel Payne.