In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation. I read it a couple of weeks ago and then attended a virtual discussion with one of the authors that was literally amazing.Īccording to Benedict’s website this historical fiction book is a remarkable story of J. During her decades-long career as a library executive, she not only acquired countless significant collection items but also made immeasurable contributions to bibliography and scholarship, mentored colleagues at the Morgan and elsewhere, facilitated widespread collection access through object loans and ambitious photographic services, and promoted the work of distinguished women scholars and librarians.The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is an excellent read in honor of Black History Month. Pierpont Morgan’s librarian is often acknowledged, her tenure in that position lasted a mere seven years. While the significant role she played as J. Greene’s legacy is powerful and far-reaching. For further reading on Greene's life and career, see Additional Resources. Greene was named its first director and served in that capacity until her retirement in 1948, two years before her death. Morgan Jr., who established the Pierpont Morgan Library as a public institution in 1924. After Morgan’s death in 1913, Greene continued as private librarian to his son, J.P. Pierpont Morgan’s private librarian, with her own assistant, Ada Thurston-managing, documenting, and building Morgan's collection of rare books and manuscripts, organizing public exhibitions at outside venues, and establishing relationships with dealers and scholars. In 1905, Greene began working as an assistant to Junius and ultimately became J. Pierpont Morgan and an ardent bibliophile, recommended her to his uncle, whose new library building was nearing completion. From the time Belle was a teenager, they described themselves as Americans of Portuguese descent and passed as White in a segregated and deeply racist society.īelle Greene was employed at the Princeton University Library when Junius Spencer Morgan, a nephew of J. After Belle’s parents separated during her adolescence, Genevieve changed her surname and that of her children to Greene. Her father was the first Black graduate of Harvard College and a prominent educator, diplomat, and racial justice activist.
Greener (1844–1922), Belle Greene (named Belle Marion Greener at birth) grew up in a predominantly African American community in Washington, DC. The daughter of Genevieve Ida Fleet Greener (1849–1941) and Richard T.
Not only did Greene build one of the most important collections of rare books and manuscripts in the United States, but she also transformed an exclusive private collection into a major public resource, originating the robust program of exhibitions, lectures, publications, and research services that continues today. Pierpont Morgan and then his son, Jack, and later as the inaugural director of the Pierpont Morgan Library (now the Morgan Library & Museum). She ran the Morgan Library for forty-three years-initially as the private librarian of J. Archives of the Morgan Library & Museum, ARC 1664.īelle da Costa Greene (1879–1950) was one of the most prominent librarians in American history.
0 kommentar(er)
