The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 104, July 2000 - April, 2001 Page: 624

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Starting in 1983, the SAWH president invited a southern woman historian to
speak at the organization's annual meeting. This volume includes ten of those
talks. All of the authors are well-established scholars in southern women's histo-
ry. Their contributions to the field are impressive. While their talks are clearly
oral presentations, they provide valuable insights into topics ranging from
Charles County, Maryland, during the American Revolution, women suffrage in
Virginia, women workers in the twentieth century, and the first three female
presidents of the Southern Historical Association. Many sketch the state of
southern women's history, providing summaries of women historians' writings
and theories. Some call for more research in areas such as African American
women's studies. None of the essays focus on Texas. The articles are easy to read
and raise interesting questions. Unfortunately, most of the essays have no foot-
notes; those that do are very limited. More citations would help the interested
reader know where else to turn for information. However, the essays are essen-
tial to "taking off the white gloves . . . [and] getting down to the 'unfinished
business' of southern women's history" (pp. 1-2).
Brigham Young Universzty Jessie Embry
Creating the New Woman: The Rise of Southern Women's Progresszve Culture zn Texas,
I893-I9z8. By Judith N. McArthur. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1998. Pp. x+199. Acknowledgments, introduction, notes, index. ISBN o-
252-o6679-0. $17.95, paper.)
Pauline Periwinkle and Progressive Reform in Dallas. ByJacquelyn Masur McElhaney.
(College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1998. Pp. xix+2ol. List of
Illustrations, preface, introduction, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN o-
89096-800-4. $29.95, cloth.)
Texas women have long been the "half-hidden sisters" of history, but a growing
body of work is showing that Texas women played vital public roles in causing
social reform. Judith McArthur shows how essentially conservative women within
the state banded together in women's clubs, expanded their traditional domestic
functions, and made an impact on political affairs. Jacquelyn Masur McElhaney
provides a more focused study of one woman involved in that movement.
In Pauline Periwinkle and Progressive Reform in Dallas, McElhaney provides a
biography of Isadore Callaway, who wrote for the Dallas Morning News from
1896-1916 under the pen name "Pauline Periwinkle." Callaway actively used her
journalism to promote women's involvement in Progressive reforms. Finding lit-
tle data about Callaway's personal life, McElhaney reprints and discusses the
published writings of Pauline Periwinkle. Callaway and her writings are engag-
ing, but McElhaney has focused her book narrowly and provides limited context
or analysis. While well done, this is a building block for larger narratives.
Appropriately, Callaway appears among the characters in Judith McArthur's
broader book.
In Creating the New Woman: The Rise of Southern Women's Progresszve Culture zn
Texas, McArthur synthesizes a vast body of information and suggests new per-

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