As the first woman editor for Dallas Morning News, Pauline Periwinkle was a catalyst for numerous local reforms and was widely read by women across Texas. Viewing women's clubs as an ideal vehicle for familiarizing women with the needs of their communities, she was a driving force behind the establishment of the Women's Congress, the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs, the Equal Suffrage Club of Dallas, the Dallas Women's Forum, and the Texas Women's Press Association.

In Pauline Periwinkle and Progressive Reform in Dallas, Jacquelyn Masur McElhaney weaves together the development of women journalists as reform advocates, a chronicle of Periwinkle's life describing her talents for raising public consciousness about various problems and promoting solutions, and excerpts from her remarkably intelligent and witty columns.

She creates an informative and moving story of a resilient woman who expressed her opinions and views in an unforgettable manner to a generation of Texas women who were just beginning to find a political voice.