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.
Phoeve 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.
Past Board Members
J. Frederick Abel
Grant Adonas
Scott Allard
James Allen
Judy Apostolico-Buck
Louis Baker
Susan T Baker
Catherine (Kitty) Bailey
Linda Bates
Decie Bowdell
Eleanor Buckler
Douglas Bullock
Judy Connally
Betty Constantz
Barbara Cubby
Stephen Detwiler
Elizabeth DiFrancesco
George Dirner
Kathy Drennen
Robert Easton
David Estabrook
Becky Ezzell
Jeff Fishbein
Fred Gilbert
David Gray
Mike Green
J. Fuller Groom
Dorothy Grotos
Linda H. Hardin
Aimee Hill
Clayton R. Hitch
Tim Hobbs
Jaren Horsley
Sue Hu
Nancy Jacobs
Bob Jeffers
Shirley Jolkovski
Catherine Reising-Jones
Brenda Clements Jones
Barnard Joy
Maureen Keene
Tom Kelly
Valerie Kitchens
Phoebe H. Knipling
Lori Lowe
Harlod Mack
Cynthia Margeson
Kitty McQueen
Jim Mehlinger
Eileen Melia
Jean Mistrom
Paul Nelson
Joseph Newlin
Barbara McKitterick
Herselle Miliken
David Rarity
Helen Rebull
Louise Rhoads
Thomas Richards
Florence Rogers
Carole Sanders
Abner Sachs
Martha Sachs
Ernest E. Saulmon
Fred Scott
William Shaffer
Belinda Shenk
Margaret Slye
Scott E. Smith
Kenneth MacFarlane Smith
Kimberly Johnson-Smith
Theodore Taylor
Latonya Thomas
George Walz
Grady Wade
Robert Watson
Mary Margaret Whipple
Francis Whitney
William Wildhack
Alexander Wilson
Ralph C. Wilson
Mildred Witten
Mary Lou Wood
Jan Yauch
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