Sarah E. McCartney

Bio

As Assistant Teaching Professor with the NIAHD Program and Department of History, Sarah E. McCartney teaches NIAHD’s Public History and Field School in Material Culture courses, as well as courses about Colonial and Revolutionary Williamsburg, NIAHD’s iconic “travel classes” that focus on teaching history through visits to historic sites across Virginia, and COLL 150 courses and History Labs focusing on material culture. McCartney was an adjunct instructor with the NIAHD program from 2018 to 2020, a Visiting Assistant Professor from 2020 to 2023, and has been Assistant Teaching Professor since Fall 2023. Her involvement with the NIAHD program began as a student at William & Mary where she joined NIAHD’s undergraduate program in addition to earning her BA in History. Inspired by her participation in the Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeology Field School, she earned an MA in History from William & Mary with a thesis focusing on Jamestown. McCartney received her PhD in American History and the Atlantic World from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2018 with a dissertation project about commerce and community in the Virginia backcountry during the revolutionary era.

 McCartney worked for NIAHD’s Pre-College Summer Program since 2008 in various roles including Head Residential Program Assistant, Instructor, and Lead Instructor. She keeps returning to the program because of the joy of introducing place-based history and material culture to high school students, as well as the opportunity to mentor W&M’s undergraduate and graduate students. Beyond her work with NIAHD, McCartney supports the K-12 teaching community through serving as a Judge for Virginia History Day.

 In addition to her work with NIAHD, McCartney’s current research project focuses on Virginia’s backcountry region during the American Revolution. She has presented this research as a keynote speaker for America's 250th commemoration events in Virginia and West Virginia. She also served as an advisor for the VA250 signature exhibit, “Give Me Liberty: Virginia and the Forging of the Nation,” at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC) and American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. McCartney has recently published an essay in the “Give Me Liberty” exhibit’s companion publication, was a guest speaker for the corresponding 2025 Summer Teacher’s Institute hosted by the VMHC, and she was a keynote speaker and presenter for the VMHC’s 2025 Conrad M. Hall Symposium.