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SERVING THE CAUSE reflected the postwar pattern of general league membership. From 2,854 in 17 subleagues in 1945 it reached a record high of 6,031 in 20 subleagues in 1960, at which point there began a steady decline. Membership dropped below 5,000 in 1967, 4,000 in 1973, and 3,000 in 1984, in which year the reported total of 2,884 was almost exactly the same as that recorded in 1945. League officers, who had always worked to attract more persons into the organization, were especially concerned as some of the sub- leagues disbanded (seven between 1967 and 1972) and as the rolls thinned. The 1964 convention resolved that "each sub-league emphasize increased memberships, regardless of church affiliation, remembering especially the mothers of newly enrolled students." A decade later, the general league itself began sending literature to mothers of all entering students, asking them either to join a sub- league near their home or to become a member-at-large.285 Nevertheless, in spite of many vigorous efforts, only eight new subleagues were organized after the war (seven of them between 1946 and 1953 and the eighth in 1965). By the fall of 1984 all of these postwar additions had disbanded. The number of subleagues had dropped form seventeen in 1945 to ten, four of which (York, Harrisburg, Gettysburg, and Philadelphia) were among the seven charter members of the general league when it was organized in 1911. The remaining six (Washington, Baltimore, Altoona, Hanover, Lancaster, and Delaware county) were all founded between 1912 and 1936.286 However noble their purposes and exemplary their records, organizations such as the Woman's League do not have automatic leases on life. There are many reasons, some apparently beyond anyone's control, why their members may find it difficult, and at times even impossible, to interest equally committed persons to continue their work into the next generation. There has always been a strong Lutheran character to the Woman's League. Many of its leaders have been active laywomen, including numerous pastors' wives and mothers of students and alumni. In addition, over the 285The members-at-large category, established in 1964, included those who belonged to no subleague. At its peak in 1975 it included 348 members, many of whom were fathers and mothers of students. From 1964 through 1984 Mrs. Florence M. Schroeder, Baltimore, held the title Chairman for Members-at-Large. By means of hundreds of letters she kept in personal touch with these members each year. They reached from Maine to Florida and from New England to California, she reported in 1972, "and even from Germany." Ten years later she declared that "I have yet to get a letter of criticism about Gettysburg College." 286Twenty-nine subleagues were organized between 1908 and 1965. Of these, 19 were in Pennsylvania, 6 in Maryland and the District of Columbia, 3 in New Jersey, and 1 in New York. Although an increasing percentage of students came from New Jersey, except for the years 1965-1972 there was no subleague there after 1952. Efforts to maintain subleagues in northern and southern New Jersey were fruitless. 97