Sarah Dix Hamlin was born in Westford, Massachusetts on November 27, 1844.

In 1891, Hamlin was sent to India, by the Ramabai Association of America, to help establish a school for child widows.

[3] In 1891, Hamlin founded the San Francisco branch of the American Association of University Women, the second oldest in the country.

In 1893, Hamlin tutored Alice B. Toklas, a member of the Parisian Avant-garde and the life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein.

[1] In April 1896 Hamlin purchased the Van Ness Seminary School located at 1849 Jackson Street, San Francisco.