[12] She took a leave of absence from teaching in 1926 to attend Columbia University, receiving a Master of Arts degree in 1926.

[14] In June 1905, she became a teaching assistant in the English Department of the State Teacher's College in Farmville, Virginia.

[12] In June 1922, she was appointed head of the English department of the Alabama Girls’ Technical Institute and College for Women, starting with the 1922–23 academic year.

[8][25][24] She steered the college through the Great Depression, overseeing increases in student enrollment and the construction of new facilities.

[26] Arlington Hall Junior College closed in 1942 when the Signal Intelligence Service took over its campus for the war effort.

[8] In May 1936, she was a delegate for the American Council of Education and attended a reception at the White House that was given by Eleanor Roosevelt.

[28] In the summer of 1939, Sutherlin took a two-month cruise to South America, stopping in Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

[30] She was a member of the Prince Edward County Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, serving as its first vice director in 1959.

[8] She was active in the Longwood College Alumnae Association, serving as chair of its Morrison Memorial Library committee.