Kiski Area graduate Sarah Mihelic, Bushy Run Battlefield’s latest museum manager, was failing her sixth grade history class when her teacher assigned her an extra credit opportunity at Washington Township’s Fort Hand.
Mihelic visited the Westmoreland County historical site for a Revolutionary War battle reenactment — camera, notebook and pen in hand.
One of the reenactors took notice of the middle school student and gave her a personalized tour of the grounds. When she came back the following day to learn more, he gave her a copy of “Private Yankee Doodle,” a Revolutionary War memoir by Continental Army soldier Joseph Plumb Martin.
“I think that was just the welcome I needed to shoot me off into the history world,” said Mihelic, 32, of Upper Burrell.
This week, Mihelic put her love of history into action as the new museum manager for Bushy Run Battlefield — a 213-acre Penn Township historical site that played host to a 1763 clash between the British and Native Americans during Pontiac’s War.
New manager ‘just fit in’
Matt Adams held the museum manager role for about three years before departing Bushy Run in late January.
The Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society reviewed nearly 90 resumes in the search for its next manager, said President Bonnie Ramus.
“Sarah just fit in with us — her experience with history education programs, working with volunteers and nonprofits,” Ramus said of the Vandergrift native.
Mihelic will be in charge of recruiting volunteers, managing tour guides, planning events and applying for grants to support the historical site, Ramus said.
“As far as we can tell, (Sarah) is a go-getter, she knows what she’s doing and she’s very proactive with what she plans to do at Bushy Run,” Ramus said.
Wants to educate ‘the same way I was’
Mihelic comes to Bushy Run from William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Va., where she worked as an event planner for more than a year. Prior to that, she worked about two years as a program and education manager at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest — a Virginia retreat home for the nation’s third president.
She earned a degree in history from Sweet Briar College in Amherst County, Va., in 2022.
After graduating from high school, Mihelic took classes at several Western Pennsylvania schools — including a semester at Westmoreland County Community College, a year and a half at Penn State New Kensington and a semester at Pitt. At the time, she was pursuing a degree in film with a minor in history, with the goal of becoming a history documentary producer.
“I was not loving film anymore at that point,” Mihelic said. “I’m a photographer, but I was not loving the whole filmmaking process. I was like ‘I don’t want to do this.’”
She worked about five years as a bank teller until the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. That’s when she decided to enroll in classes at Sweet Briar and translate her love of history into a career.
The Bushy Run role is a dream come true for Mihelic.
“I want to educate the same way I was,” she said, reflecting back on the reenactor who led her around Fort Hand 20 years ago. “I want to be that for somebody else.
“I want to be that person who takes that kid around the museum and changes their life, the same way that guy did for me.”