Although nonfiction tells the truth, it doesn’t have to be boring.

Sophie has spent the last six years honing her craft writing complicated research papers, reports, and so on that are interesting, well-studied, and at times, hard to put down. Beyond regular library research, her nonfiction weaves together archival studies, architectural investigations, and paint analysis to tell the complex stories of people and places. All of her works, four of which are accessible below, are bolstered by her background in English & Comparative Literature, American Studies, and Historic Preservation. Buildings reflect the humanity within them, demonstrated by the papers below.

The following papers come from Sophie’s time at Columbia. The first is her award-winning master’s thesis, followed by other architectural accounts that shed light on the lives, beliefs, and stories people who inhabit different places.

Click any of the titles to go to the corresponding paper:

• The Color of Spirits: Investigating Haint Blue in the American Lowcountry
• The Andrew Marré Mausoleum: Present Structure & Narrative Past
• 6 West 46th Street: A Loft to Last Another 100 Years
• Fear & the Challenges of Migration:
  Apotropaic Marks as Protective Magic in Colonial New England & Virginian Architecture