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Early Years

1912 – 1930

Nyack, New York, was home to the Shearers until Sybil was in second grade, when they moved to Long Island. Photos from these years show Sybil as a charming and vivacious child with long curls and happy smiles. In 1924, when Sybil was twelve, the family visited Sybil’s aunt, married to a vicar in London. Upon return they moved again, this time to Newark, New York, where Sybil finished high school. The few photos from England and Newark show a thoughtful maturity developing in Sybil. For whatever reason, the archives contain no photos from Sybil’s years at Skidmore College, beginning in 1930, nor from the New York dance career that followed.