Sara joined the Ashland County Historical Society in January 2025 after serving as the Executive Director at the International Women’s Air & Space Museum for over four years. Her career has taken her across the state of Ohio for the past 10 years, working with over 40 local history organizations, building capacity with strategic planning, collections and archival management, business integrations, historic site interpretation, program development, and community engagement. She previously worked as the Curator/Collections Manager at the Lakewood Historical Society, as an Ohio History Service Corps AmeriCorps member at the Quaker Heritage Center of Wilmington College and the Oberlin Heritage Center, and as the AmeriCorps Program Director and Local History Coordinator at the Ohio History Connection.
Her passion for bringing local history to life began at the Southeast Ohio History Center, formerly the Athens County Historical Society and the Clark County Historical Society. She is actively involved with the Ohio Local History Alliance, the American Association for State and Local History, and the National Council on Public History. In 2018, she served as the Impact, Relevance, and Engagement Co-Team Lead for the Standards of Excellence Program (STEPS) Enhancement Project through AASLH, bringing together professionals nationwide to update the program for small and medium-sized history organizations. Beginning in 2022, Fisher serves on the Under-Told Stories Committee of the America 250-Ohio Commission, which is charged with planning the United States’ 250th commemoration in 2026.
She earned her B.A. in History with a Women and Gender Studies certificate from Ohio University and an M.A. in History/Public History from Wright State University. One of her many research areas of interest is social-cultural history, specifically bringing local stories to center stage in context with state, national, and international events.
Connect with Sara at sarafisher@ashlandhistory.org.