Dr. Phoebe Hall Knipling was a remarkable woman by anyone's standards. Born in North Carolina, she developed a love and appreciation of nature in early life. By the time she had enrolled in public school at the age of 9, entered college at 15, and earned a Ph.D. at 23, her love of nature and passion for science were melded. She was first a teacher and later the first female Science Supervisor in the State of Virginia. She spent much of here time traveling over the state, taking high school science students on advanced summer field study programs.

Phoebe knew, well before the rest of the country, that environmental or outdoor education was absolutely essential to the development of young people - people who would be making the decisions of the future. She knew that hands-on experiences were worth a thousand pages of textbook. As Arlington became increasingly developed and less natural, as the security and dependability of faraway study sites became less certain, Phoebe dreamed of one facility - secure and natural, close to Arlington - where our children would engage in outdoor studies.

Phoebe formed the Arlington Committee for Outdoor Education. They searched the back roads of Northern Virginia until the found the Fauquier property. Under the leadership of Phoebe, the Arlington Outdoor Education Association, Inc. was formed. They purchased the land for the lab.

Mrs. Striker wanted her land preserved and sold it to the AOEA for $100,000 less than the highest offer.

Mr. Preston Carruthers, when grants to purchase the land were not available, loaned the AOEA $51,000 to help make the initial purchase.

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