Ida Tarbell's earliest ambition was to be a biologist. While she put away her microscope in her youth, she continued to investigate people and situations of interest to her throughout her long and productive life.

Tarbell was among the first American women to earn a college degree, graduating in 1880. Fiercely independent, she first took a job at a school in a different state. After returning to her family home, she fell into a writing and research assignment with a monthly newsletter. Tarbell realized she could support herself through her writing. She went to Paris alone to research Madame Rouland, a French political activist. While there, she sent articles to American magazines describing French life.

S.S McClure, the owner of McClure's Magazine, met Tarbell in Paris and convinced her to write for him. Tarbell returned to America and continued to meticulously research her subjects and write in-depth features about them.

She earned national recognition with her exposé on the Standard Oil Company, which helped lead to the break-up of that monopoly. Theodore Roosevelt and others called her a muckraking journalist.

From McClure's, she became associate editor of The American Magazine. Tarbell published several books and later toured the country on the lecture circuit. Throughout her illustrious career, Tarbell never shied from traveling to observe people and circumstances or asking the tough questions, all during an age when most women did not have careers. Her warm stories will delight those who love to listen about history.