Ida Tarbell Papers, 1896-1943
General International Standard for Archival Description
Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Laura Cutter. 2003-06-12
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Ida Tarbell Papers
Creation of Ida Tarbell Papers
Time of Creation of Ida Tarbell Papers
Tarbell, Ida M. (Ida Minerva), 1857-1944
Biographical History for: Ida Tarbell Papers
Biographical Note Ida Minerva Tarbell was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania on 5 November 1857, the daughter of Esther Ann McCullough and Franklin Sumner Tarbell. She attended local public schools and graduated from Allegheny College in 1880, the sole woman of her class. Ida M. Tarbell, undated She taught for a few years at Poland Union Seminary, in Poland, Ohio, and worked for The Chatauquan, a home-study teaching guide based in Meadville, Pennsylvania from 1883 to 1891. She left her job, traveling to Paris to study the role of women in the French Revolution. While there, she supported herself by writing occasional articles for Scribner's magazine and by 1892, McClure's, including a series of articles on Napoleon Bonaparte that was published in book form in 1895. She also wrote biographies of Madame Roland (1896) and Abraham Lincoln (1900), but remains best known for her scathing expose, The History of Standard Oil (1904). She was an assistant editor of McClure's from 1894 to 1906. She was one of a group of investigative journalists (dubbed "muckrakers" by Theodore Roosevelt) who owned and edited the American Magazine from 1906 to 1915. She then lectured on the Chautauqua circuit until 1932, speaking on a variety of topics and occasionally writing articles for magazines. Though a supporter of women's rights early in her career, she did not support women's suffrage, a position that caused friction between her and those she worked with on a variety of causes. She suffered from Parkinson's disease in her later years and died in Bridgeport, Connecticut on 6 January 1944
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Ida Tarbell Papers consist of 1 linear foot and are primarily related to her professional life, dating from 1896 to 1943. The bulk of the papers date from 1896 to 1912, and focus on her time as assistant editor at McClure's and on her writings about Abraham Lincoln. There is also a small amount of material regarding her anti-suffrage views. Types of material include correspondence, memorabilia, journal and newspaper articles, published and unpublished writings, and a photograph.
Journalism--United States--History--20th century--Sources
lcsh
Women and war--United States--History
Women journalists--United States--History--Sources
Women--Suffrage--United States--History
Boyden, Albert Augustus, 1875-1925--Correspondence
lcnaf
Brower, Charles D., 1863-1945
Davis, J. McCan (John McCan), 1866-1916--Correspondence
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Biography--Sources
Phillips, John Sanborn, 1861-1949--Correspondence
American Magazine--History
McClure's magazine--History
series
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
Newspaper clippings, 1912-42, n.d.
Memorabilia and photograph, 1913-24, 1937, 1942, n.d.
All in the Day's Work: An Autobiography, 1939
SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE
General, A-Z, 1896-1901, n.d.
Individuals
Boyden, Albert, 1905-12, n.d.
Davis, J. McCan, 1898-1900
Phillips, John S., 1910-43
Business letters, 1896-97
SERIES III. WRITINGS
Published
"The Irresponsible Woman and the Friendless Child," The American Magazine, May 1912
"Is Women's Suffrage a Failure?" Good Housekeeping, October 1924
"Ten Years of Woman Suffrage," The Literary Digest, 1930 [Includes excerpts from an interview with Tarbell; author unknown]
"The American Woman: How She Met the Experience of War," The American Magazine (in two parts), n.d.
Unpublished
"Account of whalers caught in arctic ice and the heroism of their rescuer, Charles D. Brower," [author unknown], n.d.