Sallie Shearer

Sallie Shearer
The woman on the left is thought to be Sallie Shearer. Photograph by William Goldman, c. 1892.[1]
Born	Sarah D. Fisher c. 1848 Muhlenberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Died	1 October 1909 Reading, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Occupation	Brothel keeper
Spouse	Christopher Shearer

Sarah D. Shearer (née Fisher; c. 1848 – 1 October 1909) was an American brothel-keeper in Reading, Pennsylvania. She married the artist Christopher Shearer who abandoned her and their sons to study in Europe, and whom she subsequently divorced. In 1880 she was working as a dressmaker but by 1883 she was working in the sex business and eventually opened a high-class "parlor house" (brothel) of her own.

Despite frequent brushes with the law and serving at least one jail sentence, she was financially successful and able to buy property and keep a fancy carriage. In the 1890s, the women of her house were the subjects of a secret collection of photographs made by local photographer William Goldman that was published in book form in 2018. She died of diabetes and was buried in a lavish casket at the Lutheran cemetery in Reading.