She had a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English and earned her doctorate in 1938. She is Malvina Reynolds who met folksingers Pete Seeger and Earl Robinson when she was in her forties. She then studied music theory and went on to compose "Little Boxes", Turn Around", "What Have They Done To the Rain" and "Morningtown Ride".

The Limeliters (Glenn Yarbrough, Lou Gottlieb and Alex Hassilev) were first to record "Morningtown Ride" for the 1962 album "Through Children's Eyes, Little-Folk Songs For Adults".

The Seekers (Judith Durham, Keith Polger, Bruce Woodley, and Athol Guy) excellent cover of "Morningtown Ride" failed to chart well in America reaching the mid-forties on Billboard and number thirteen on the Adult Contemporary chart but it did hit the U.K. top five and top ten in the group's native Australia in 1966.