[2] During his early years as a journalist, prior to World War II, Rouse worked for the Newport News Times-Herald and for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
[1] In later life Rouse wrote a weekly column about Tidewater Virginia for the Newport News Daily Press.
Among Rouse's best-known works were a biography of James Blair, founder and first president of the College of William and Mary; a history of the college president's house; and a popular chronicle of Williamsburg's history before and during its restoration as Colonial Williamsburg by John D. Rockefeller Jr., Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the Reverend Dr. W.A.R.
[1] In 1954, he became the first executive director of Jamestown Festival Park and later the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation,[4] a post he held for 26 years until his retirement.
[3] From 1974 through 1980, Rouse also served as the Executive Director of the Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission and assisted in the planning for the 1976 visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Jamestown and Williamsburg.