Tarbell's landmark investigative series on Standard Oil began publication in McClure's Magazine, launching modern investigative journalism.
In November 1902, McClure's Magazine published the first installment of Ida Tarbell's serialized investigation into the Standard Oil Company, founded and dominated by John D. Rockefeller. The series, meticulously researched over several years with the help of assistant John Siddall and access to court records, internal documents, and interviews, exposed the monopolistic practices, secret railroad rebates, and predatory pricing that allowed Standard Oil to crush competitors and control the American oil industry.
This opening installment marked a watershed moment in American journalism. Tarbell's approach—rigorous documentary evidence combined with narrative storytelling—set a new standard for what would become known as "muckraking" journalism, a term later coined by Theodore Roosevelt (partly in reference to writers like Tarbell). Her work appeared alongside other reform-minded pieces in McClure's, part of a golden age of investigative reporting.
The series's impact was immediate and profound: it shaped public opinion against corporate monopolies, informed the burgeoning antitrust movement, and directly influenced the political climate that eventually led to the breakup of Standard Oil. As a woman working in a male-dominated field of business journalism, Tarbell overcame significant professional barriers to produce work recognized as one of the most important pieces of investigative journalism in American history.