Sue Spayth Riley, daughter of George W. and Annis (Salsbury) Spayth, was born at Houston, Texas, and was brought up in New Jersey where her father was editor and publisher of a chain of weekly newspapers issued from the towns of Dunellen, New Market, South Plainfield, and Middlesex, N.J. She was given a progressive education at the Modern School in Stelton, N.J. She attended a public high school in Dunellen, N.J., before entering Black Mountain College in January, 1938.

Having strong leanings toward writing, dramatics, and dancing, Miss Spayth chose the field of dramatics when she entered the senior division of Black Mountain College in the fall semester of 1939. In addition to roles played in the annual student/faculty Thanksgiving entertainments of 1939 and 1940, she played the part of Gunhild Borkman in the college production of Ibsen's play, at the close of 1939, and early in 1940, the role of Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's tragedy. Long interested in developments in modern dance, Miss Spayth taught a dance class at the college during 1940. Economic conditions obliged her to terminate her studies at the college in December, 1940. Miss Spayth later earned her bachelor of arts degree at Goddard College, Vermont, and her master's at the University of North Carolina, both in early childhood education.

Black Mountain College was an experimental school located in Black Mountain, N.C. Established in 1933 by John A. Rice and others, the purpose of the college was to educate the whole person, with an emphasis on the role of the arts and creative thinking. Despite the fact that Black Mountain College could rarely offer faculty more than room and board, a number of important teachers and artists were drawn to the school as part of the regular faculty or to participate in the school's Summer Institutes. Josef and Anni Albers, John Cage, Robert Creeley, Merce Cunningham, Max Dehn, Joseph Fiore, Buckminister Fuller, Edward Lowinsky, Robert Motherwell, Charles Olson, M.C. Richards, and Xanti Schawinsky were only a few of those who taught at Black Mountain College. In addition, the success of several of the college's students (such as Ruth Asawa, Edward Dorn, Kenneth Noland, and Robert Rauschenberg) helped to further the college's reputation in the area of the arts and the avant garde.

The character and focus of Black Mountain College shifted over time, according to the make-up of the faculty and students. Personal and ideological conflicts were common and sometimes lead to major changes in the college community. Lack of funds added to the stress of the situation, as did the school's physical isolation and its sometimes strained relations with the local population. Eventually, the student enrollment and available funds dwindled until the college was forced to close in 1956.