Sydney Louise Bedard was born March 1, 1902, the eldest child of Jack(Jacques) Bedard and Ella Leath Bedard(nee’ Sydney).  A prominent attorney, Jack is well-known around the Capitol, and counts many pols among his friends. John Sydney, Ella’s father, is an influential banker in Albany.

Sydney’s early interests included horses, cars and airplanes. She had no set specific goal for herself; she knew only that she wanted a life of comfort, if not privilege; and she knew that she wanted a career. At first she considered acting, a choice which horrified her mother; then she contemplated art and its attendant bohemian lifestyle, which angered her father. But her life changed forever when her Aunt Madeleine took her to a screening of “Cleopatra”, with Theda Bara. After that she was irretrievably hooked on the Ancient World in general, and Egypt in particular.

She first attended Vassar, her mother’s Alma Mater. However, after an incident involving her sorority, a speakeasy, and the sons of the mayor, she was obliged to continue her education elsewhere. Her second school was Yale. Here she blossomed, and would certainly have graduated were it not for one night with the rowing team. She later claimed that they were merely trying to explain to her the origin of certain rowing terms, and that things were not as they seemed. In any event, she left Yale under a cloud.

She spent one summer at Cornell, which she liked. She also liked the football team, which led to an incident involving the entire squad and a ‘game' of what authorities described as “touch football”.  Her career at Cornell over, she went to the small town of Troy-- and RPI. She found the atmosphere challenging enough to suit her tastes, and managed to do well in her chosen field. Her parents were also pleased, as she was obliged to live with her elderly Aunt Thais and Uncle Ewald while at RPI.

 She was the only girl on the paleontological survey to Indian Ladder in the Catskills, an expedition that, following an unauthorized side trip to Canada, led to the dismissal of some graduate students. Later, in an effort to retrieve her missing notes, she entered some caverns with members of the survey and found several cases of Canadian liquor, which she promptly returned to the campus.  By the time the Dean got wind of it, the evidence had long since disappeared. Implicated by the wife of one of the dismissed grad students, Sydney managed to present the Dean with enough evidence of her innocence to keep him from expelling her.  She graduated cum laude and went on to NYU.

She was the only female student on the expedition to Egypt, much to the chagrin of the professors’ wives.   Things managed to stay civil until Cairo.  There she volunteered to be a model for some Egyptian-style clothes. She chose to model the harem girl garb described in the Westcar Papyrus, examples of which had been found by Sir Flinders Petrie. After the ensuing row it was suggested that she return to NYU.

When the Van Driesens requested a suitable student guide, a surprising number of faculty--and faculty wives-- recommended Sydney. And so she left for Athens, to meet with Oswald Van Driesen.