Ida Tarbell: Portrait of a Muckraker

by Kathleen Brady

This definitive biography of Ida Tarbell, on of America’s great journalists, is highly readably and widely acclaimed.

Genres: Biography, Journalism, History, American History, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Kathleen Brady's newest biography is Francis and Clare The Struggles of the Saints of Assisi, which won a 2022 Catholic Media Association Award. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3lhXHsh. Her work appears in Commonweal, America, and National Catholic Reporter. Brady is also the author of the critically well-received Lucille, The Life of Lucille Ball, and is featured on the TCM 12-part podcast series on the famed comedienne. In recognition of her biography Ida Tarbell: Portrait of a Muckraker Brady was named a Fellow of the Society of American Historians. She appears on the NPR Planet Money podcast on Standard Oil and Anti-Trust. The ABC-TV movie, A Passion for Justice, starring Jane Seymour, was based on Brady's research into the life of Mississippi journalist and civil rights activist Hazel Brannon Smith. Her brief life of this figure appears in the collection Forgotten Heroes.

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct and highly readable account of Tarbell's life. Well worth the time!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This account is a timely reminder of the struggles of the Progressive Era of 100+ years ago, as we re-fight the same old battles against income inequality and corporate greed. Ida Tarbell's work is particularly timely because the story she pursued, for which she is most remembered, also had to do with fossil fuels. It's a story I absorbed from a young age from my father's references to relatives who'd helped Mr. Rockefeller make his millions by digging his oil wells and building derricks in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania where he grew up. This book also is a reminder of the critical importance of investigative journalism. Tarbell was among those who pioneered this kind of reporting. Whatever struggles she went through as a woman seem largely hidden - maybe they were hidden even from herself - but the author gives us a sense of Tarbell as a person not without failings, but dogged in her pursuit of the truth. It's a story that should be better known.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good biography of the first female investigative reporter. If she were living today, she would probably outshine most of her contemporary counterparts. I read her expose on John D. Rockefeller, Sr, some thirty years ago, and found it a blazing criticism of unchecked, unregulated capitalism.

[Sherry · Rating 2 out of 5]

She wrote an expose of the Standard Oil Company. Way ahead of her time.

[Bob Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author rights in the notes at the end that "the real challenge was trying to explain an enigma".
The book was well researched but she seemed often to get lost in the detail and therefore make the subject even more enigmatic for the reader. Nevertheless, there is a lot of information in this book and I enjoyed reading it.

[Danilo DiPietro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to learn about the woman who exposed Standard Oil to greater scrutiny and paved the way for better regulation of the trusts. I was perplexed to also learn she was an anti-suffragist. Brady could have done a better job explaining this. Still, Tarbell lived during a pivotal time in US history and I did learn a lot about her and the times she lived in. Worthwhile read.