Catherine Filene Shouse - 1930-1966: Wolf Trap Farm

1930-1966: Wolf Trap Farm

Catherine Shouse’s desire for her children to develop an appreciation for and a relationship with nature resulted in the establishment of America's first and only national park for the performing arts – Wolf Trap. Shouse believed children should have the opportunity to learn about nature and animals and she wanted her children to be closer to nature than would be possible living in her urbanized Georgetown residence.

Consequently, she set out to look for a farm. Shouse – who was short on money but long on conviction – got into her car in 1930, with a friend visiting from Boston, and drove out of Georgetown into Virginia. Shouse encountered large tracks of farmland in Vienna, Virginia. She asked a man who was standing in the road if any of the land was for sale. The man replied, “Nothing for sale. Everybody keeps his land because the division was made after the Civil War, 52 acre properties, and because of them we don’t want any strangers coming in.” Undeterred, Shouse continued to look for properties. That evening however, while reading through the classified ads in the newspaper, she came across a property for sale advertisement. It was the exact farm she inquired about earlier that day. In February 1930, Catherine Shouse bought The Wolf Trap Farm for $5,300.00.

Initially, Shouse grew oats, wheat, alfalfa and other farm items for family and friends. However, at the advent of and during World War II, Shouse’s Wolf Trap Farm fed many more. Fresh produce (and food in general) was scarce during the war years and scores of people were allowed to take advantage of Wolf Trap.

Wolf Trap also frequently hosted notable foreign and domestic political figures. In a 1994 interview, Shouse recalls, “I remember the night…that Lord Halifax, the British Ambassador called and told me, ‘I’ll bring Dumbarton Oaks British representatives to dinner tomorrow night with you. They haven’t seen a whole ham, a whole chicken, or much food of any kind since the beginning of the war.’ They came on an August evening….and the Lord Halifax watched their eating and drinking because the next morning was the Dumbarton Oaks meeting of the many countries, and you know the Dumbarton was the predecessor of the United Nations.”

During World War II, Wolf Trap became a haven for many American soldiers on leave. According to Shouse, “During the war it became an oasis for many of the people on leave. And General Bradley came back from the big horrible battle and that horrible experience that our people had in Luxembourg. He was here. General Marshall came out….Wolf Trap meant a great deal, not only to the people here, but to people that were abroad.”

When Catherine Shouse bought Wolf Trap, it came with a dilapidated farm house on the property. Shouse used the last of her savings to buy the initial plot of land. Thus, Shouse along with family and friends physically renovated the house (and property) themselves, using whatever resources they could get their hands on. She also added to the initial property. Whenever she obtained extra money, Shouse would buy adjacent plots of land to add to Wolf Trap. Before long, Wolf Trap was 168 acres.

While Shouse was alive, Wolf Trap was enjoyed by countless people from many nations and from myriad backgrounds. Shouse often brought disabled and disadvantaged children from Washington, DC to Wolf Trap to give them hay rides. Multitudes of people would come to Wolf Trap to enjoy a walk through the Woods, picking laurel, etc. Shouse wanted people to be able to enjoy Wolf Trap even when she was no longer here.

To ensure that her dream would become a reality, Shouse approached the Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and asked, “You have many parks for recreation, but you have nothing in the performing arts. And people find through performing arts their balance in tense times, their joys in their everyday life. Do you want Wolf Trap?” That initial conversation with the Secretary of the Interior led to Catherine Shouse donating Wolf Trap to the Federal Government. The United States government officially accepted Wolf Trap in 1966 and designated it as a national park for the performing arts under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service – the first of its kind.