CIA CAMPUS CHRONICLES: THE HISTORY OF THE SCATTERGOOD-THORNE PROPERTY

• Document Type: FOIA
• Keywords: THORNE
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005743960
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 28, 2011
• Case Number: F-2011-01995
• Publication Date: August 29, 2011

UNCtA,B FIED
(U) CIA Campus Chronicles: The History of the Scattergood-Thorne Property
APPROVED FOR RELEASED
DATE: 09-26-2011
Page 1 of 2
(b)(3)
"You'll have to go around Miss Scattergood."
-Stuart Udall, Secretary of Interior, to the Virginia Highway Department when it
wanted to take 125 feet of the Scattergood-Thorne property to improve the
intersection of Georgetown Pike and Dolley Madison Boulevard in 1956
The 32-acre Scattergood-Thorne property
once was part of 2,800 acres acquired in 1719 by Thomas
Lee from the Fairfax family in England. Lee named his land, which ran along
the Potomac River from Little Falls to Great Falls, "Langley." After Lee's death,
the land passed to his son and later was divided among the family members.
By 1852, a 935-acre parcel was named Rokeby Farm. Today the CIA
Headquarters occupies two-thirds of the original Rokeby Farm.
In 1933, Margaret Scattergood and Florence Thorne purchased a 20-acre tract
of that farm from Mr. and Mrs. Lightbown and, in 1935, added an adjoining 12
acres. Scattergood and Thorne named their turn-of-the-century, wood-framed
residence Calvert House, and the property became known as the Calvert
Estate. Thorne was a direct descendent of the first Lord Baltimore, Sir George
Calvert, and it is believed the house, was named in his honor.
During the 1940s, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) acquired 742
acres near Georgetown Pike to be used for a research facility. In the 1950s,
CIA obtained 225 acres of the FHWA property-including the Calvert estate-to
house its new Headquarters, with the proviso that Scattergood and Thorne
would be permitted to remain on the property until their deaths. The survivor,
Scattergood, passed away in 1986 at the age of 92, and the CIA was given
control of their acreage the following year.
While deciding among several suggestions for the use of the property-a
conference center, a day-care center, a parking structure, a museum, or as a
home for the DCI-the residence was used mainly for storage and training by
the Security Protective Officers and their K-9 teams. During late 2003 and early
2004, the classic American farmhouse underwent a complete renovation to
make it a state-of-the-art conference center. It is a showcase of the Georgian-
Revival style with American period furnishings, including foreign gifts presented
to the DCI.
The first floor of the onference center includes a large
meeting room, which can accommodate up to 36 people, and adjoining
breakout rooms that seat an additional 20. The center is com letel wheelchair-
accessible.
toward Route 123, has been enclosed to provide additional serving and
he newly renovated kitchen can
provide refreshments. The existing porch, which overlooks most of the property
Florence Thorne was born in 1877 and was a direct descendent of the first
Lord Baltimore, Sir George Calvert. She studied philosophy and graduated from
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the University of Chicago in 1909. The subject of her graduate thesis was the
American Federation of Labor (AFL) and, at the invitation of Samuel Gompers,
President of the AFL, she became a researcher at its national headquarters in
Washington, DC. In 1912, Thorne became assistant editor of American
Federalist, and worked very closely with Gompers on his autobiography until his
death in 1924. After he passed away, she finished the book, and it was
published in 1926. The following year, she assembled a volunteer research
staff and, in 1933, was named head of the newly created AFL Department of
Research. Her work contributed to the creation of legislation inaugurating Social
Security and unemployment benefits and regulating child labor. During this
period, she met Margaret Scattergood. Thorne retired in 1953 and wrote
another book on Samuel Gompers, which was published in 1957. She passed
away in 1973.
Margaret Scattergood was born in 1894. She studied economics and
graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1917. During World War I, she traveled to
France with a Quaker service group to aid war refugees, and eventually worked
at the AFL as a researcher, where she met Florence Thorne. In 1956,
Scattergood retired from the AFL, and in 1979, she was the recipient of a
humanitarian award from the Fairfax County Human Rights Commission for her
work with a McLean citizens group to promote human and civil rights. She
supported anti-war and liberal causes through donations from a sizable trust
fund left to her by her father. Scattergood also provided sanctuary to
Guatemalan and Nicaraguan refugees, and often they mistakenly showed up at
CIA's front gate looking for her home. Margaret Scattergood passed away in
1986 at the age of 92.