Ida M. Tarbell

1. Ida M. Tarbell A Muckraker Cynthia Conway Lit 2380 Professor Jane A. Jones

2. Muckrakers • One who spreads real or alleged scandal about another (usually for political advantage) • Ida Tarbell, John S. Phillips, Lincoln Steffens • American people were indifferent to public questions • In 1905 her articles marked the height of the vindictive personal attacks (Hidy et al. 703)

3. Her Life • November 5, 1857 (Erie County, PA) • Author and journalist • 1880 Graduates from Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania • 1883 Joins the staff of The Chautauquan • 1893 Joins McClure’s Magazine • 1904 History of the Standard Oil Company • 1936 1936 The Nationalizing of Business, 1878-1898 • 1944 died January 6 in Bridgeport, Connecticut of pneumonia in hospital. Buried in Titusville

4. Her Works

5. The History of Standard Oil • “hatred of privilege” “primary privilege” • It helped make history • Initiated the questioning of America’s values regarding business • Her solution to the cause of malaise was “not capitalism but an open disregard of decent ethical business practices by capitalists” • “It focused attention upon the alleged misdemeanors of the giant in the oil industry.” (Hidy et al. 676)

6. Criticism • “A fearless unmasking of moral criminality masquerading under the robes of respectability and Christianity” – Arena • “The contention… that Standard Oil ‘cut to kill’ was definitely exaggerated.” (Hidy et al. 469) • “Hardly anybody alive has read it from beginning to end, all 815 pages… the book is probably the greatest work of investigative journalism ever written” (Weinberg)

7. All in a Day’s Work • “[G]o ahead, and they will get you in the end,” I was told by more than one who had come to the conclusion either from long observation or from long suffering…Even my father said, “Don’t do it, Ida…”

8. The Nationalizing of Business • It is “reminiscent of the earlier work only as distant rumble of thunder signals the surely departure of a recent storm.” (Tomkins 147) • It overviews the changes in American business from 1878 – 1898 • Includes rise of labor, population changes, farm problems, change via railroads.

9. Feminism • Her stand showed her conservatism. “her innate impulse to create the new order by extending rather than eliminating the old one.” (Tomkins 100) • The American Woman November 1909 –May 1910 • Demonstrates the “women had not truly been overshadowed by men in America but had been coequals with them in developing American civilization.” (Tomkins 101)

10. Remembrance • Many articles and facsimiles • Her landmarks • Her stamp • October 7, 2000 Introduction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York

11. Resources • Hidy, Ralph W. , and Muriel E. Hidey. Pioneering in Big Business 1882-1911. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Brothers , 1955. • Tomkins, Mary E. Ida M. Tarbell. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1974. • Weinberg, Steve. "Ida Tarbell, Patron Saint." Columbia Journalism Review 40 (2001). 08 Dec 2005 <http://web3.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/210/421/103581048w3/purl=rc1_ITOF_0_A75084875&dyn=3!xrn_1_0_A75084875?sw_aep=lincclin_mcc>.