Sarah Morgan
Sarah Morgan is a historian, educator, and content creator with a passion for bringing untold stories of history to life. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History and has been pursuing history-related work since her college years, primarily in tour guide and museum roles. Sarah is the founder of Cooking with the Calutron Girls, a social media program that pairs women’s history with food, highlighting the contributions of women during the Manhattan Project using the Oak Ridge cookbook Cooking Behind the Fence. Her content includes recipe demonstrations, storytelling, and interviews, and she shares her work on Instagram as well as on Living East Tennessee with WATE Channel 6. With expertise in historic preservation, museum collections management, and public engagement, Sarah combines rigorous research with storytelling and hands-on programming to make history vivid, memorable, and impactful.
• Ball State University - BA in History
• Active involvement in local synagogue
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a passion for storytelling and uncovering untold histories. With a Bachelor’s degree in History and as the lead bus tour guide at the American Museum of Science and Energy, I connect audiences with the remarkable stories of Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project. Through my project Cooking with the Calutron Girls, I pair women’s history with food from the Oak Ridge cookbook Cooking Behind the Fence, showing that recipes are living artifacts of culture and memory. Launching this project and becoming the museum’s first paid tour guide are my proudest achievements, allowing me to make history engaging, tangible, and deeply personal.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering the history and museum field is to stay persistent and not get discouraged. Museum work can be competitive, especially in smaller institutions where full-time opportunities are limited, and turnover is low. It’s important to put yourself out there whether through social media, volunteering, or other projects and share your knowledge and passion for history. Building connections with people who share your interests can open doors over time, and opportunities often arise in unexpected ways. Keep learning, keep engaging, and stay committed; the field is challenging but deeply rewarding.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in my field is breaking into the museum profession, particularly in smaller institutions where full-time positions are limited and highly competitive. Specializing in Manhattan Project and Oak Ridge history, especially focusing on women’s roles, has also meant carving out a niche that isn’t widely represented or prioritized. Balancing my passion project, Cooking with the Calutron Girls, alongside professional responsibilities requires careful time management and sustained commitment. At the same time, there’s a tremendous opportunity in bringing visibility to overlooked histories stories that are often untold and using creative approaches to engage audiences and make these narratives resonate.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are elevating women’s voices, maintaining historical accuracy and integrity, and making education accessible to all. I prioritize curiosity and lifelong learning, approaching every project as an opportunity to discover and share new insights. Community engagement is central to my work, and I strive to bring creativity to historical interpretation, ensuring that the stories I tell are both meaningful and relatable.