Individual Scholar Page

Personal Info

Photo

About Me

I earned my Ph.D. in History from Boston University in 2016. I am the Series Editor for The Papers of John Adams, part of The Adams Papers project at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and author of Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family (Oxford University Press, 2018). Committed to the preservation of and access to rare primary sources, I have worked on the selection, annotation, indexing, and book production of a dozen scholarly editions drawn from the Adams Papers (Harvard University Press, 2009— ), covering the history of American political life in the era ranging from the Declaration to disunion. My research focuses on early American thought, culture, and religion. I am a co-founder and contributor to The Junto and the Society for U.S. Intellectual History blogs. I write about American history, thought, and culture for Smithsonian and CNN.

As a historical editor, I publish authoritative editions of the founders’ words; lead student and teacher workshops; curate manuscripts and artifacts in thematic exhibits; and bring Adams expertise (spanning three centuries) to the broad audiences of groups like National History Day. Thanks to the Historical Society’s trove of Adams and Jefferson manuscripts, I teach frequently on constitutionalism, founding-era thought, and the course of Anglo-American empire. My next research project, which digs into the intellectual and cultural nuances of these topics, will also enhance my critical rigor as a public historian: I want to present the Constitution in all its complexity and encourage civic dialogue.

Recent Publications

Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Adams Family Correspondence, vols. 10, 12, 13. Edited by Margaret A. Hogan, Sara Martin et al. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011, 2015, 2017

The Papers of John Adams, vols. 16–19. Edited by Gregg L. Lint, Sara Georgini et al. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012–2016

“The Angel and the Animal.” In William Gilmore Simms’s Unfinished Civil War: Consequences for a Southern Man of Letters, edited by David Moltke-Hansen. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 2013

“John Quincy Adams at Prayer,” Church History 82 (Sept. 2013): 649–658

Contributor, Smithsonian, 2016–present

Media Coverage

Social Media

@sarageorgini

Country Focus

United States

Expertise by Geography

Atlantic, United States

Expertise by Chronology

18th century, 19th century, 20th century

Expertise by Topic

American Civil War, American Revolution, American Founding Era, American Presidents, Diplomacy, Family, Government, Museums, Religion, Women