About Belle da Costa Greene
Belle da Costa Greene (November 26, 1879 – May 10, 1950) was an American librarian who managed and developed the personal library of J. P. Morgan. After Morgan died in 1913, Greene continued as librarian for his son, Jack Morgan, and in 1924 was named the first director of the Pierpont Morgan Library. Born to black parents, Greene passed for white throughout her career. Greene worked in the administrative offices at Columbia University's Teachers College in the mid-1890s, where she was introduced to the philanthropist and social welfare advocate Grace Hoadley Dodge. Dodge arranged for Greene to be admitted to the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies and funded her education there. Greene attended the seminary for three years, likely from 1896 to 1899. In 1900, Greene attended Amherst College's Summer School of Library Economy, a six-week program that offered courses in the nascent library science field, including cataloging, indexing, and handwriting. Following her graduation, she began working at the Princeton University Library. At Princeton, she was trained in cataloging and reference work, and she developed a knowledge of rare books. While working at Princeton, she met Junius Spencer Morgan II, who later introduced her to his financier uncle J. P. Morgan. Greene began working as J. P. Morgan's librarian in 1905. Greene was an expert in illuminated manuscripts. She spent millions of dollars in buying and selling rare manuscripts, books, and art for Morgan. She told Morgan, that her goal was to make his library "pre-eminent, especially for incunabula, manuscripts, bindings, and the classics". She was particularly focused on making rare books accessible to the public, rather than keeping them locked away in the vaults of private collectors. According to a biographer of Morgan, Greene helped Morgan in evading customs duties for art objects. At one point, she allowed customs agents to find several dutiable items in her luggage, while preventing them from noticing that she was transporting a painting, three bronzes, and a very expensive watch for Morgan. Greene herself reported that she and her employer performed a "war dance" and jointly laughed following the success of their scheme. Despite being born to black parents, Greene spent her professional career passing for white.
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