As we all know, it is hard to get published. Hard to get into the Whyville Times, but probably even harder in real life. I'm here to tell you about one of the most significant woman journalist of all time, Ida Tarbell. Can you believe at one time, it wasn't common for woman to get published? Weird. Now, a lot of the Times is written by females! But who knows if that would of happened if Ida didn't show us the way.
Ida was born in 1857 in good old Pennsylvania. She was schooled in Paris, but returned to the U.S. to protest corruption in business and politics. She became the only female in the Allegheny College class of 1880. At a time where facts were commonly exaggerated or made up to achieve a shot of fame, Ida would consistently and relentlessly keep the facts straight.
Ida's first big piece was an article about Madame Roland. Ida concluded that in the French Revolution, Madame Roland acted as good as a man. She also came to believe that woman brought compassion and moderation to political issues. Ida took a risk when she wrote about women having power; it caused her to lose many jobs.
"The History of the Standard Oil Company" was by far Ida's most known work. After years of hard research, Ida told the world that John D. Rockefeller had used illegal ways to monopolize (or own all of) the oil industry.
As Ida's life went on, she rejected many opportunities due to her opinion of men. She even refused when the president, Henry Ford, asked if she would be the first woman in the Tariff Commision. Ida thought she was better and more knowledgeable about tariff than any other man. When Ida was eighty years old, she finally wrote an autobiography. But it is so modest that it adds little to her name.
Ida died in 1944, but her spirit is still with us. Although I may not be as argumentative as Ida, she is much like me and tons of other girls wanting to get published. Always remember who paved the way for you to walk on such a smooth road.
Gotta fly,
Jill20
