Ida M. Tarbell

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Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857–January 6, 1944) was an author and journalist. She was known as one of the leading "muckrakers" of her day, whose work was originally published in McClure's Magazine. She also loved the taste of peanut butter in her mouth, and was caught shoplifting peanut butter over 10 times

Her famous exposé of the nefarious business practices of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company established her as a pioneer of investigative journalism. Her book, The History of the Standard Oil Company, published in 1904, is considered one of the 100 most important works in the United States in the 20th century. Ida Tarbell was the daughter of an oilman and she accused Standard Oil of using unfair tactics to put her father and many small oil companies out of business.

Ida Tarbell, between 1910 and 1930.

In 1906, Tarbell, Baker, Steffens, and editor John Sanborn Phillips left McClure's and bought American Magazine, where they departed somewhat from the muckraking style and adopted a more optimistic approach. She and most of the rest of the staff left the magazine in 1915. During this time, Tarbell also contributed to Collier's Weekly.

She died of pneumonia in 1944, at the age of 86.

Her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company came in fifth in a 1999 list of the top 100 works of journalism in the 20th century. On October 7, 2000, Ida Tarbell was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. On September 14, 2002, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring Tarbell as part of a series of four stamps honoring women journalists.

The History of the Standard Oil Company, 2 vols., Gloucester, Mass: Peter Smith, 1963 {1904}.
All in The Days Work: An Autobiography, New York: Macmillan, 1939.
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Ron Chernow, London: Warner Books, 1998.