1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eves. Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that will convince you that 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 1: history can be fascinating even when you expect it not 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:25,640 Speaker 1: to be. Today is November. The day was November five, 6 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: eight fifty seven. Item A Nerva Tarbell was born in 7 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: Erie County, Pennsylvania. Tarbell was an investigative journalist, biographer, educator, 8 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: and lecturer. She exposed the corruption of big businesses and 9 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: contributed to the dissolution of the standard oil monopoly through 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: her journalism, and she's remembered as one of the foremost 11 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: so called muck breakers of the progressive era. Muck breaker 12 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: was the initially pejorative name given to reform minded journalists 13 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: who wrote about big business, exposing political and economic corruption. 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: Tarbell was born in a farmhouse and had tollow. Her father, 15 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: Franklin Sumner Tarbell, was a carpenter. Her mother esther, and 16 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: Tarbill was a teacher. Before she got married. Ida had 17 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,199 Speaker 1: three younger siblings, one of whom died as a child. 18 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: When oil was discovered in Erie County and incited a 19 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: rush of business, Ida's father started up a shop making 20 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: wooden oil tanks. As Franklin grew his oil business, the 21 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: family moved to Rouseville, then Titus Bille in Pennsylvania, though 22 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: he was later forced out of business by Standard Oil. 23 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: Ida graduated from Allegheny College in eighteen eighty with a 24 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: Bachelor of Arts degree in biology. Once she graduated, she 25 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: began teaching at Poland Union Seminary in Ohio, but after 26 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: two years there she quit to pursue a career in writing. 27 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: She began working at The Chautauquan, a magazine about self improvement, 28 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: and eventually became its managing editor, but in she left 29 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: for Paris to study history at the Sorbonne. While in Paris, 30 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: Tarbell also wrote articles for US publications, but a notable 31 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,519 Speaker 1: terrent in her writing career came when she met Samuel S. McClure, 32 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: who created the popular literary magazine McClure's. She began writing 33 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,559 Speaker 1: for the magazine, and when she returned to the United States, 34 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: she joined the magazine staff as a writer and associate editor. 35 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: She wrote a series on Napoleon Bonaparte and a series 36 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: on Abraham Lincoln, both of which were later published as books, 37 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: and she and other writers at the magazine began to 38 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: tackle social issues like corporate trusts. One of Tarbill's most 39 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: noteworthy pieces of investigative journalism during the Progressive era, a 40 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: time of great social activism and political reform in the 41 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: United States, was the book The History of the Standard 42 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: Oil Company, published in nineteen o four. The history was 43 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: originally published as nineteen articles in McClure's. It exposed the 44 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: abuses of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly and contributed 45 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: to the company being prosecuted under anti trust laws. She 46 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: garnered a lot of attention and popularity from her journalism 47 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,679 Speaker 1: about oil and monopolies, but in nineteen o six, she 48 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: and some of her colleagues left McClure's after a dispute 49 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: with McClure himself. They soon took over a publication called 50 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: The American Magazine. There, Tarbell continued her journalism, writing about 51 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: things like corporate crime, the tariff, and the history of 52 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: the women's movement. She was critical of the women's suffrage movement, 53 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: denouncing its militant parts and characterizing it as anti men. 54 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: She espoused her support of home and family and criticized 55 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: the movements in attention to those roles and values. Tarbell 56 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: spent time traveling to examine factory conditions, and she came 57 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: to admire For's mass production methods and treatment of workers. 58 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixteen, President Woodrow Wilson offered her a spot 59 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: on the Federal Tariff Commission, but she refused. After American 60 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: Magazine was sold in nineteen fifteen, she worked as a 61 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: lecturer and if lance writer. She wrote books about business 62 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: and business leaders, including one on Owen D. Young, who 63 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: founded the Radio Corporation of America. She also wrote a 64 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: series on Mussolini, in which she offered him praise, and 65 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: she published an autobiography. Critics have noted that though Tarbell 66 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: was considered a muckraker, she often championed American capitalism and 67 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:26,600 Speaker 1: took conservative stances. She died of pneumonia in Connecticut in ninety, 68 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: leaving behind a legacy of work that influenced many other 69 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: investigative journalists. I'm eas Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know 70 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 71 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: Keep up with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, at 72 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: T D I h C podcast, or if you would 73 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: prefer to email us, you can send us a message 74 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: at this day at i heart media dot com. We're 75 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: here every day, so you know where to find us. 76 00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: I from our podcasts, from my heart Radio, visit the 77 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 78 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.