Citing Declining Membership, Women's Clubs Around The Country Close

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December 21, 2010

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt addresses a National Defense Forum sponsored by the General Federation of Women's Clubs in Washington, D.C. Jan. 23, 1942. She urged that more women's groups take an interest in preventing congressional curtailment of National Youth Administration aid to college students. (AP)

In the 1950s, more than two million women across the country were in women's clubs, performing charitable works like crocheting blankets for war veterans or raising money for local scholarships.

Today only 100,000 women belong to these groups. We speak with 84-year-old Margaret Atkins, who is the longest-serving member of the Cabot Club in Middleborough, Massachusetts, which recently announced it is closing.

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This segment aired on December 21, 2010.