# 3666 - 2002 37c Women in Journalism: Ida M. Tarbell
37¢ Ida Tarbell
Women in Journalism
Color: Multicolored
Birth Of Ida Tarbell
Tarbell’s family moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1860, after the town had become a large center for oil production. In the coming years, new oil fields were developed in the area, leading many to find work related to oil.
Tarbell’s own father worked building wooden oil storage tanks before becoming an oil producer himself. In 1872 her father and many others were put out of business by the South Improvement Company scheme orchestrated by John D. Rockefeller.
After returning to Pennsylvania, Tarbell was hired to write a teaching guide for home study courses in Chautauqua, New York. By 1886 she was the publication’s editor, with tasks including proofreading, answering reader questions, and translating foreign words.
However, much of his information formed the basis of a negative exposé Standard Oil and John D. Rockefeller. A form of investigative journalism that was rarely seen at the time supplemented these interviews. Tarbell traveled the country to collect hundreds of thousands of pages of documents to support her story and conduct interviews with oil executives and competitors, government regulators, and other experts.
The first of Tarbell’s 19 stories on Standard Oil appeared in McClure’s in November 1902. Her dramatic retelling of Rockefeller’s practices captured public interest, with readers anxiously awaiting the next installment. Tarbell’s exposé was the first of its kind to focus on a large corporation in this way. After the articles were all published, they were collected into a book, The History of Standard Oil Company. Public outcry over the company’s dubious business practices ultimately led the U.S. government to sue Standard Oil for violation of the nation’s anti-trust laws. Tarbell was touted as a hero of investigative journalism and a symbol of the amazing power of the press.
Click here to read some of Tarbell’s articles.
37¢ Ida Tarbell
Women in Journalism
Color: Multicolored
Birth Of Ida Tarbell
Tarbell’s family moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1860, after the town had become a large center for oil production. In the coming years, new oil fields were developed in the area, leading many to find work related to oil.
Tarbell’s own father worked building wooden oil storage tanks before becoming an oil producer himself. In 1872 her father and many others were put out of business by the South Improvement Company scheme orchestrated by John D. Rockefeller.
After returning to Pennsylvania, Tarbell was hired to write a teaching guide for home study courses in Chautauqua, New York. By 1886 she was the publication’s editor, with tasks including proofreading, answering reader questions, and translating foreign words.
However, much of his information formed the basis of a negative exposé Standard Oil and John D. Rockefeller. A form of investigative journalism that was rarely seen at the time supplemented these interviews. Tarbell traveled the country to collect hundreds of thousands of pages of documents to support her story and conduct interviews with oil executives and competitors, government regulators, and other experts.
The first of Tarbell’s 19 stories on Standard Oil appeared in McClure’s in November 1902. Her dramatic retelling of Rockefeller’s practices captured public interest, with readers anxiously awaiting the next installment. Tarbell’s exposé was the first of its kind to focus on a large corporation in this way. After the articles were all published, they were collected into a book, The History of Standard Oil Company. Public outcry over the company’s dubious business practices ultimately led the U.S. government to sue Standard Oil for violation of the nation’s anti-trust laws. Tarbell was touted as a hero of investigative journalism and a symbol of the amazing power of the press.
Click here to read some of Tarbell’s articles.