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ANNCR:
People in America, a program in Special English on the Voice ofAmerica. Every week we tell about a person who was important in
the history of the United States. Today Shirley Griffith and RayFreeman tell about reporter Ida Minerva Tarbell. Ida Tarbell was oneof the most successful magazine writers in the United States duringthe last century. She wrote important stories at a time when womenhad few social or political rights.
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VOICE ONE:
Ida Tarbell used her reportingskills against one of the most powerful companies in the world. Thatcompany was Standard Oil. Ida Tarbell charged that Standard Oil wasusing illegal methods to hurt or destroy smaller oil companies.
She investigated these illegal business dealings and wrote aboutthem for a magazine called McClure’s. The reports she wrote led tolegal cases that continued all the way to the Supreme Court of theUnited States.
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VOICE TWO:
Ida Tarbell was born in the eastern state of Pennsylvania inNovember, Eighteen-Fifty-Seven. Her family did not have much money.Her father worked hard but had not been very successful.
When Ida was three years old, oil was discovered in the nearbytown of Titusville. Her father entered the oil business. Hestruggled as a small businessman to compete with the large oilcompanies.
Ida’s mother had been a school teacher. She made sure that Idaattended school. She also helped the young girl learn her schoolwork.
Ida wanted to study science at college. Most people at that timethought it was not important for young women to learn anything morethan to read and write. Most people thought educating women was awaste of money.
Ida’s parents, however, believed education was important…evenfor women. They sent her to Allegheny College in nearby Meadville,Pennsylvania. She was nineteen.
VOICE ONE:
Those who knew Ida Tarbell in college say she would wake up atfour o’clock in the morning to study. She was never happy with herschool work until she thought it was perfect. In Eighteen-Eighty,Ida finished college. In August of that year, she got a teaching jobin Poland, Ohio. It paid five-hundred dollars a year.
VOICE TWO:
Miss Tarbell learned that she was expected to teach subjectsabout which she knew nothing. She was able to do so by reading theschool books before the students did. She was a successful teacher,but the work, she decided, was too difficult for the amount she waspaid. So she returned home after one year. A small newspaper in thetown of Meadville soon offered her a job.
Many years later, Ida Tarbell said she had never considered beinga writer. She took the job with the newspaper only because sheneeded the money. At first, she worked only a few hours each week.Later, however, she was working sixteen hours a day. She discoveredthat she loved to see things she had written printed in the paper.She worked very hard at becoming a good writer.
VOICE ONE:
Miss Tarbell enjoyed working for the newspaper. She discovered,though, that she was interested in stories that were too long forthe paper to print. She also wanted to study in France. To earnmoney while in Paris, she decided she would write for Americanmagazines.
Ida Tarbell found it difficult to live in Paris without muchmoney. She also found it difficult to sell her work to magazines.The magazines were in the United States. She was in Paris. Some ofher stories were never used because it took too long for them toreach the magazine. Yet she continued to write. Several magazinessoon learned that she was a serious writer.
VOICE TWO:
A man named Samuel McClure visited Miss Tarbell in Paris. Heowned a magazine named “McClure’s.” Mister McClure had read severalof her stories. He wanted her to return to the United States andwork for his magazine. She immediately understood that this was avery good offer. But she said no. She proposed that she write for”McClure’s” from Paris.
Ida Tarbell wrote many stories for “McClure’s.” She did this forsome time before returning to the United States. Her writing wasvery popular. She helped make “McClure’s” one of the most successfulmagazines of its day.
One of her first jobs for the magazine was a series of storiesabout the life of the French Emperor Napoleon. The series wasprinted in “McClure’s Magazine” in Eighteen-Ninety-Four. It was animmediate success. The series was later printed as a book. It wasvery popular for a number of years.
VOICE ONE:
Her next project was a series about the life of AmericanPresident Abraham Lincoln. She began her research by talking withpeople who had known him. She used nothing they told her, however,unless she could prove it was true to the best of her ability.
“McClure’s Magazine” wanted ashort series about President Lincoln. But Ida Tarbell’s serieslasted for one year in the magazine. Like her series about Napoleon,the President Lincoln stories were immediately popular. They helpedsell more magazines. She continued her research about PresidentLincoln.
Through the years, she would write eight books about PresidentLincoln.
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VOICE TWO:
Miss Tarbell’s reports about the Standard Oil Company areconsidered more important than any of her other writings. Hernineteen-part series was called “The History of the Standard OilCompany.” “McClure’s Magazine” published it beginning inNineteen-Oh-Two.
Her reports showed that Standard Oil used illegal methods to makeother companies lose business. One method was to sell oil in onearea of the country for much less than than the oil was worth.
This caused smaller companies in that area to fail. They couldnot sell their oil for that low a price and still make a profit.After a company failed, Standard Oil would then increase the priceof its oil. This kind of unfair competition was illegal.
VOICE ONE:
Miss Tarbell had trouble discovering information about theStandard Oil Company. She tried to talk to businessmen who worked inthe oil business. At first, few would agree to talk. They wereafraid of the Standard Oil Company and its owner, John D.Rockefeller. He was one of the richest and most powerful men in theworld.
Miss Tarbell kept seeking information. She was told by one manthat Rockefeller would try to destroy “McClure’s Magazine.” But shedid not listen to the threats. She soon found evidence that StandardOil had been using unfair and illegal methods to destroy other oilcompanies. Soon many people were helping her find the evidence sheneeded.
VOICE TWO:
Ida Tarbell’s investigations into Standard Oil were partlyresponsible for later legal action by the federal government againstthe company. The case began in Nineteen-Oh-Six. In Nineteen-Eleven,the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against Standard Oilbecause of its illegal dealings. The decision was a major one. Itforced the huge company to separate into thirty-six differentcompanies.
John D. Rockefeller never had to appear in court himself. Yet thepublic felt he was responsible for his company’s illegal actions.The investigative work of Ida Tarbell helped form that publicopinion. That investigative work continues to be what she is knownfor, even though some of her later writings defended Americanbusiness. She died in Nineteen-Forty-Four.
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VOICE ONE:
A picture has survived from the long ago days when Ida Tarbeltook on the giant Standard Oil Company. It shows John D. Rockefellerwalking to his car. It was taken after his company had lost animportant court battle. He is wearing a tall black hat and a longcoat. He looks angry.
Several people are watching the famous man from the behind thecar. One is a very tall women. Mister Rockefeller does not see her.
If you look closely at the picture, you can see the face of IdaTarbell. She is smiling. If you know the story, her smile clearlysays, “I won.”
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VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written and produced by PaulThompson. I’m Ray Freeman.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week at this timefor another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program, on VOA.