Sarah Christie was passionate about education, and convinced her father to let her attend college at a time when many women could not. Soon after she started college in the 1860s, her father ran out of money for tuition, so her brothers contributed money from their soldiers' pay. During the Civil War, Sarah was very active in the Soldiers Aid Society, and afterward she continued fighting for women's rights and social reform with the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Later in her life, she was elected Blue Earth County Superintendent, supervising 137 schools.