In 1938, as war threatened and with Mussolini in power in Italy, she resided in Florence at a house sheltering Jewish people trying to flee the country.
[6] Following the birth of their two children, Coope took up her research interests joining the Bromley House Library and becoming a member of the Council of the Thoroton Society in 1955 and its President from 2008-2014.
Her interest in and enthusiasm for research culminated in her registering for a PhD, at the Courtauld Institute of Art, which was subsequently awarded in 1972.
[9] Photographs attributed to Coope are held in the Conway Library[10] collection of images at the Courtauld Institute of Art.
This physical collection of glass and film negatives as well as photographic prints is in the process of being digitised as part of a wider project 'Courtauld Connects'.