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The American Magazine

Tarbell had written for McClure's from 1894 until 1906. By then, S. S. McClure had become an increasingly absentee publisher, occasionally dropping in to override ideas and Tarbell's orders. She had lost her father the previous year to gastric cancer and S. S. McClure's erratic behavior at the magazine contributed to her stress, as it threatened the stability of the magazine and Tarbell's holdings. This led Tarbell and John Phillips to both resign from McClure's in June 1906, followed by Baker, Steffens, and Siddall. Tarbell and Philips raised money to form the Phillips Publishing Company and to purchase The American Illustrated Magazine, (formerly Leslie's Monthly Magazine), which they renamed The American Magazine. Phillips became president. Tarbell became its associate editor and remained there until 1915. Instead of focusing on muckraking journalism, the magazine steered away from reporting what was "wrong" in society and focused on what was "right." As well as the establishing the new magazine in 1906 Tarbell moved to Connecticut and purchased a 40-acre farm in Redding Ridge, Connecticut which she named Twin Oaks. After Tarbell bought her farm in 1906, her household expanded to include a number of family members. Tarbell resided with her sister Sarah in Easton, Connecticut, at Rock House and Valley Roads. Over the years, several other family members also lived on the property, including her niece and nephew, Clara and Tristram Tripper, who lived in a cottage. Tarbell's brother Walter and his wife also came to live there after Walter suffered an emotional breakdown.

Mark Twain and other New York publishing people lived nearby and Tarbell frequently entertained friends there. Tarbell wrote of the work required on a farm:

"Things happened: the roof leaked; the grass must be cut if I was to have a comfortable sward to sit on; water in the house was imperative. And what I had not reckoned with came from all the corners of my land: incessant calls—fields calling to be rid of underbrush and weeds and turned to their proper work; a garden spot calling for a chance to show what it could do; apple trees begging to be trimmed and sprayed. I had bought an abandoned farm, and it cried loud to go about its business."

Tarbell wrote a series of essential articles at The American Magazine, in which she investigated tariffs and their impact on American businesses and consumers. Tarbell also traveled to Chicago to investigate their public transportation. She met Jane Addams and stayed at Hull House in 1908. There, she participated in the group's programs which included teaching immigrant women English, job and homemaking skills.

Tarbell and the other editors decided to sell The American Magazine to the Crowell Publishing company in 1911. John Phillips sold his remaining interests to Crowell Publishing Company in 1915. Phillips became a consultant to the magazine, John Siddell became the editor, and Tarbell turned to freelance writing.

Tarbell examined the positive side of American business in a series of articles written between 1912 and 1916. She toured the United States and met with factory owners and workers and their families. Tarbell said of her own muckraking reputation, "Was it not the duty of those who were called muckrakers to rake up the good earth as well as the noxious?" She was fascinated by Thomas Lynch of the Frick Coke Company, who was committed to providing decent living conditions for his workers and believed that "Safety First" was preferable to accidents. Tarbell also admired and wrote about Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford and his belief that offering high pay would create excellent work, as well as his ideas around mass production.