She wrote four books, the first of which identified the author as a "lady of New York" entitled A medley of joy and grief.

A fifth book, also based upon her correspondence, was published in 1953 by Susan B. Huntington called The Travels of Sarah R. Haight.

[1] The family lived at 4 Lafayette Place in Manhattan,[6] a fashionable neighborhood of row houses and parks laid out in 1826 by John Jacob Astor.

[16] Haight wrote letters to a friend, who saved them,[15] and they were shared in her book, Woman's Record, Or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women: From the Creation to A.D. 1854 : Arranged in Four Eras : with Selections from Female Writers of Every Age (From the Old World).

Published in two volumes in 1840, it told of the learned men that she met, her friends and associates, and the places she explored, like museums and libraries.

"[18] During that time, Holy Land travel books had become popular, and as a woman, Haight was able to visit and write about places not accessible to men, like harems.

[20][b] She said of the Holy Land, "actually treading on the soil of Palestine... all my historical recollections, sacred and profane, came fresh to my memory.

"[21] Like other American visitors, she had an idealized view of the Holy Land and was dismayed by the poverty, cruelty towards women, and lackluster architecture.

Haight expressed that the Middle East region would do well to model itself after the United States and utilize missionaries, teachers, statesmen, and engineers to improve the "heathen land".

[22][c] Haight believed that Jews would establish a homeland in Palestine and would rebuild and worship in ancient temples.

[1] Richard sponsored lectures by George R. Gliddon, who had been an American consular agent in Cairo, to spread knowledge about ancient Egypt in cities along the east coast of the United States.