 In 1858, Sartain graduated from the Philadelphia Normal School and then taught school until the summer of 1862. John Sartain taught his daughter art, including the mezzotint engraving technique that he revived, which was a favored process in England that created high-quality prints of paintings. John Sartain believed in equal opportunities for women and encouraged his daughter to pursue a career. He mortgaged his house and gave her a "gentleman's education" in fine art by taking her on a Grand Tour of Europe beginning the summer of 1862. They started in Montreal and Quebec and then sailed for Europe. She enjoyed the English countryside; old world cities, especially Florence and Edinburgh; the Louvre; Italian Renaissance paintings; and artists like Dante and engraver Elena Perfetti. She traveled to Venice to visit William Dean Howells and his wife Elinor Mead Howells, who was a painter. Sartain decided in the course of the trip that she wanted to become an artist. During their travels the Sartains learned that William Sartain had enlisted during the Civil War (1861 – 1865) and later hastily returned to the United States when John and Emily learned that the Confederate States Army had crossed into Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, which is 158 miles west of Philadelphia.
