- Original name in full:
- Belle Marion Greener
- Notable Family Members:
- father Richard Theodore Greener
Belle da Costa Greene
-
Who was Belle da Costa Greene?
Belle da Costa Greene (1879–1950) was an American librarian and bibliographer known for organizing and expanding J.P. Morgan’s collection as the Morgan Library.
Greene was the daughter of Richard T. Greener, the first African American to graduate from Harvard, and Genevieve Fleet. After her parents divorced, Greene and her family chose to identify as white. She created the persona of Belle da Costa Greene, claiming Portuguese ancestry. Greene secured a job at the Princeton University library and gained expertise in rare books, which caught the attention of J.P. Morgan.
From 1905 to 1908, Greene brought order to Morgan’s collection. She traveled to Europe as his agent, expanding her knowledge of books and manuscripts through the guidance of experts like Sydney Cockrell and Bernard Berenson.
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What was Belle da Costa Greene's main job?
Belle da Costa Greene was an American librarian and bibliographer known for organizing and expanding J.P. Morgan's collection as the Morgan Library. From 1905 to 1908, Greene brought order to Morgan’s collection. Her ability and forthright personality led Morgan to trust her judgment, and from 1908, she traveled to Europe as his agent, seeking additions to the Morgan Library collection. She increased her knowledge of books and manuscripts through these trips and became a respected figure to libraries, galleries, and dealers in Europe.
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Where did Belle da Costa Greene work as a librarian?
Belle da Costa Greene was an American librarian and bibliographer who played a crucial role in organizing and expanding the collection of J.P. Morgan, later known as the Morgan Library. Before her work with Morgan, she worked at the Princeton University library, where she mastered cataloging and developed a keen interest in rare books. From 1905 to 1908, Greene worked to bring order to Morgan’s collection. From 1908, she traveled to Europe as his agent, acquiring additions to the Morgan Library collection.
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What was her role at the Morgan Library?
Belle da Costa Greene was instrumental in organizing and expanding J.P. Morgan's collection, which later became the Morgan Library. From 1905 to 1908, she brought order to Morgan's collection of books and manuscripts.
Greene's expertise and personality led to Morgan trusting her judgment, and from 1908, she traveled to Europe as his agent, acquiring additions for the library. After Morgan's death, she became the library's director in 1924, a position she held for 24 years. During her tenure, she transformed the library into a world-renowned center for scholarly research, establishing various programs and services.
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How did Belle da Costa Greene influence the world of rare books and manuscripts?
Belle da Costa Greene significantly impacted the world of rare books and manuscripts through her work with J.P. Morgan. From 1905 to 1908, she organized Morgan's extensive collection of early books and manuscripts in New York City. Her expertise and strong personality earned Morgan's trust, leading to regular trips to Europe as his agent to acquire additions for the Morgan Library collection. Greene's dedication to expanding her knowledge of books and manuscripts, with guidance from experts like Sydney Cockrell and Bernard Berenson, established her as a respected figure among leading libraries, galleries, and dealers in Europe.
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Why is Belle da Costa Greene considered an important figure in library history?
Belle da Costa Greene was an American librarian and bibliographer who played a crucial role in the development of the Morgan Library. Starting in 1905, she organized J.P. Morgan's extensive collection of books and manuscripts, bringing order to what was then a disorganized assortment.
Greene's expertise and strong personality quickly earned Morgan's trust, leading to her appointment as his agent for acquiring new items for the library. She traveled to Europe, expanding her knowledge of books and manuscripts through the guidance of experts like Sydney Cockrell and Bernard Berenson. Greene became a respected figure among leading libraries, galleries, and dealers in Europe.
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Belle da Costa Greene (born November 26, 1879, Washington, D.C., U.S.—died May 10, 1950, New York, New York) was an American librarian and bibliographer, the moving force in organizing and expanding the collection of J.P. Morgan as the Morgan Library.
Family, early life, and education
Belle da Costa Greene was the daughter of lawyer Richard T. Greener, the first African American to graduate from Harvard and the first librarian of color at the University of South Carolina, and Genevieve Fleet. Both of her parents were from mixed-race families, and they were light-skinned, as was she; her birth certificate, discovered in 1999, identified her as “Colored.” (It also proved that December 13, 1883, previously identified in biographical material as her birth date, was incorrect.) Her parents separated and eventually divorced in the 1890s, which brought the opportunity for a break from the past. Greener’s wife and children all dropped the -r from Greener and any association with the man who had abandoned his family.
Together with her mother and siblings, Greene determined to “pass” as white, and they were listed so beginning with the 1905 New York state census. She settled on the name Belle da Costa Greene and would explain that “da Costa” reflected Portuguese ancestry, as did (she implied) her olive complexion. Only her brother, Russell, also adopted “da Costa” as well.
The circumstance of living as a white person resulted in further fabrications, including the story that she had grown up in Alexandria, Virginia. Because Greener refused to support his children beyond the age of 18, his daughter was unable to afford college and went from public school into a job at the Princeton University library. She soon mastered cataloging, served in the reference department, and became deeply interested in the library’s rare-book collection.
Organizing J.P. Morgan’s library
Greene’s interest in rare books brought her to the attention of J.P. Morgan, whose large and haphazard collection of early books and manuscripts was about to be placed in its own building in New York City. From 1905 to 1908 Greene worked to bring order to Morgan’s great collection. Her ability and her forthright personality led Morgan to place increasing trust in her judgment, and from 1908 she was traveling regularly to Europe as his agent, seeking out and purchasing additions to the Morgan Library collection.
She worked indefatigably on these trips to increase her own knowledge of books and manuscripts, a pursuit in which she profited greatly by the tutelage of Sydney Cockrell of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, and later that of Bernard Berenson in Italy. She became a well-known and respected figure to the leading libraries, galleries, and dealers in Europe.
Director of the Morgan Library
The death of Morgan in 1913 left Greene for a time in an uncertain position, for J.P. Morgan, Jr., had shown little interest in his father’s collection. World War I interrupted her worries, however, and she threw herself wholeheartedly into war work. By 1920 the younger Morgan had discovered an interest in the library, and Greene resumed her European researches.
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In 1924 Morgan transformed the library into an incorporated and endowed educational institution and named Greene director. She held the post for 24 years, during which she made it a world center for scholarly research. Photographic and information services, together with programs of lectures and publications, were soon established. She had a genius for friendship as well as for scholarly bibliography, and the two qualities dovetailed in her work for the library.
Her European trips continued until 1936; declining health marked the years from then until her retirement in 1948. In 1949 an exhibition was mounted at the Morgan Library in her honor.