Evening star., 1943-04-11
Championing Cause of the French People
Still Is First Love of Mrs. Robert Dunlap
Washington Author
Long Had Another
Home in Republic
By Frances Kuhn.

By Frances Kuhn.
The Chateau de Coulennes tn
the province of Maine near lie
Mems in the south of Normandie
has long been another home for
Mrs. Robert H. Dunlap. Her
sympathetic understanding of the
French people of the small towns
and villages and her love for the
rolling countryside have made
her so fond of that country.
Her home in France was more
than something to be merely
lived in by Mrs. Dunlap. She
began to share 1t with others by
writing about the chateau and
the surrounding town Of Coulen-
mes under the name Katharine
Dunlap. They formed back
ground for her first book Encore
for Love-" She is the author Of
Lady Be Good" and her latest
book is "Once There Was a Viii
lage." The scene of the book is
a French village in the spring Of
1889 and, as the story unfolds,
Mrs. Dunlap captures the beauty
of France and the kindliness Of
its people as we'll as their own
deep love for their land.
The Chateau de Coulennes Is Of
excellent architecture and about
the house there Is an ancient
moat. The gardens are surround
ed by stone wall which has tur-
rets set into 1t at intervals, and
within the gardens there Is 4 tiny
chapel.
Mrs. Dunlap came back to this
country about 10 years ago for
the winter and since that time
and up to the outbreak OF an
other war in France she divided
the years between the two coun-
tries, spending the spring and
summer months at the Chateau
de Coulennes and the remain
ing time in America. She does
not know definitely of the fate Of
the chateau, but the last report
was that it still was intact.
Mrs. Dunlap was already In
France when Gen. Pershing
landed with American troops in
1917 and remained there lending
all her efforts to help the people
of France. Her work has not
stopped and she still is working
diligently to aid the French.
She is an active member of the
Co-ordinating Council for French
Relief. The council is an incor-
poration of war relief agencies
for French children and French
prisoners of war under one large
organization, the headquarters of
which are In New York. Miss
Anne Morgan, whose outstanding
work in this field during the
Great War is we'll remembered. is
in charge Of the relief given to
the French prisoners of war. and
Mrs. Dunlap is the head of the
Washington unit.
During the Great War Mrs.
Dunlap worked for blinded
French for year in Paris and
for several more years she was
an ardent worker for the Red
Cross in France. Per1nissions for
American women to enter France
were not granted after the United
States entered the war, but be-
cause of the fact that Mrs. Dun
lap was already in residence there
she was able to remain. Her hus-
band, the late Gen. Dunlap, U. S.
M. c.. arrived In France with
Gen. Pershing.
Mrs Dunlap has travelled wide
ly since her husbands changes of
station took them to many coun-
tries. She lived in Peking for
three years and found the Chi
nese people and their culture in
tensly interesting.
Washington is her "home
town" and she is making her
home here with her mother, Mrs.
Thomas Newton Wood, whose
home is one of the few remaining
private residences on the 100
block of K street. At the rear of
the house there is a lovely garden
and in spite of the fact that it is
in the center of the city, cardi-
mails, robins and blue jays can be
found there. Keeping them sup