Welcoming Summer Research Fellow Megan Snopik

This week, Caramoor's Director of Interpretation, Collection, and Archives Jessa Krick welcomed Summer Research Fellow Megan Snopik to the Rosen House. Megan is the third person to hold this special role in the Rosen House, where each year, a new Fellow tackles a different research subject. This year, it’s the life and letters of Flora (Bigalow) Dodge Guest, Lucie Rosen’s mother and the subject of the hidden portrait unveiled in the Rosen House last year.  For about eight weeks this summer, Megan will be delving into Flora’s letters—transcribing them, yes—but also getting to know this lively, smart, social woman through the evidence she left behind, including dozens of letters written to Lucie during Flora’s long lifetime. Flora experienced New York social life of the late 19th century, she married, had two children, divorced her husband in South Dakota, married a second time, relocated to England, witnessed the Blitz, worried for her son held for nearly five years in a German prison camp, and authored several books, all while maintaining a steady stream of written communication with Lucie. Megan is looking forward to learning more. “Historical correspondence can reveal the daily dramas and emotional lives of people. There’s nothing better for making history personal. I enjoy the process so much,” she said, as she surveyed the array of archival boxes waiting for her.

Megan is a first-year PhD student in English at Fordham University. During the competitive application and selection process, her application stood out because of how well her research interests and experience aligned with this year’s project. Megan’s focus is on modernist female writers, the body, and illness and disability studies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Texas and a Master of Arts in Literature from the University of Sussex. Throughout her academic career, she has undertaken archival research and transcription projects regarding Virginia Woolf and modernism across three different archives; The Harry Ransom Center (Austin, TX), The Keep (Sussex, United Kingdom), and The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Archives at the New York Public Library.

She is particularly interested in the opportunity to read Flora’s letters which have not been previously studied in-depth and find what they reveal about her remarkable life, as well as gaining more experience with organizing and preparing archival materials in the Rosen House archive. A Texas-native, avid-runner, and dog-mom, Megan is very excited to spend the summer in the Rosen House Collection discovering more about Flora!