Ida M. Tarbell, Scourge of Standard Oil Tarbell served as managing editor of the popular McClure’s Magazine, where her “History of the Standard Oil Company” ran in serial form for three years. Her revelations of the ruthless railroad rebates John D. Rockefeller used to control the oil-refining business came from Tarbell’s deep research but also from her experience growing up in the Pennsylvania oil fields where she witnessed how Standard Oil forced out its competitors. Tarbell: Library of Congress; magazine: The Ida Tarbell Collection, Special Collections, Pelletier Library, Allegheny College.