Its first director was Belle da Costa Greene (1879-1950). She had been Pierpont’s librarian from 1905 until his death in 1913, although the term, Greene’s preferred, seems inadequate to her ...

Belle da Costa Greene, who was JP Morgan’s librarian, became a lively fixture at Gilded Age mansions, country retreats, auction houses and art galleries. She was also a Black woman who passed as ...

A 1910 watercolor portrait of Belle da Costa Greene by Laura Coombs Hills. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, gift of the Estate of Belle da Costa Greene.

With this breezy pronouncement, Belle da Costa Greene handily differentiated herself from most librarians. She stood out for other reasons, too. In the early 20th century – a time when men held ...