Belle da Costa Greene, the extraordinary librarian-scholar who created the Morgan Library in 1924, when white men dominated her field, got her start at Princeton as a woman of African-American descent who chose to pass as white.

As the Morgan Library marks its centenary with the exhibition Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian's Legacy, Princeton paid tribute to her on November 12 with a roundtable discussion in the very spot where she worked as librarian from 1901 to 1905, the Chancellor Green Rotunda, as well as with a mini exhibition in Firestone Library.

Director of the Index of Medieval Art Pamela Patton moderated the roundtable, which included Morgan Library Exhibition Project Curator Erica Ciallela, Firestone Global Special Collections Librarian Mireille Djenno, Mudd Manuscript Library Records Manager Kathleen Brennan.

Brennan and Ciallela spoke of the self-possessed, forthright voice that indexed documents projected on Greene’s behalf. Ciallela, who is co-curating the Morgan Library exhibition, worked through 40 linear feet of Greene’s business records about the library’s establishment.   “I met Belle Greene through her work,” she said, noting that while it’s important to tell her story, Greene would have disapproved of distracting attention from the books.

The picture comes together of a woman who, while she exhausted herself as administrator, purchaser, curator, and hostess, handled it all with an effortless air, not to mention panache. “I first learned about Belle da Costa Greene while in library school, and as my career has evolved to include more special collections-focused work, she has remained a touchstone,” said Djenno, admiring Greene’s concurrent commitment to librarianship and style.

Born into a prominent family of intellectuals, Greene was the daughter of Genevieve Ida Fleet Greener (1849–1941) and Richard T. Greener (1844–1922), the first Black graduate of Harvard College, who went on to work as an attorney, professor, racial justice activist, and dean of the Howard University School of Law. After her parents separated in the 1890s, Greene’s mother changed the family surname to Greene and the family began to pass as white in a racist and segregated America.

A&A Alumna Daria Rose Foner ’11, formerly a research associate to the director of the Morgan Library & Museum, wrote an article titled “The Education of Belle da Costa Greene” in the catalogue accompanying the Morgafn Library’s exhibition,  which addresses Greene’s time at the Princeton University Library in the early 20th century, among other topics. At Princeton, Greene  was trained in cataloguing and reference work and developed a growing knowledge of rare books. Fatefully, she was also introduced to J.P. Morgan here,  by his nephew, associate librarian and bibliophile, Junius Spencer Morgan II.

Greene ultimately ran the Morgan Library for forty-three years—initially as the private librarian of J. Pierpont Morgan and then his son, Jack, and later as the inaugural director of the Pierpont Morgan Library.  She became known as one of the most prominent librarians in American history.

Greene earned a surprisingly high salary and fought for increased wages on behalf of her staff. “Belle Greene signed her own paychecks before women had the right to vote,” said Ciallela.  While she represents a leap forward, however, Ciallela emphasized that work remains to be done, noting that fewer than 1% of librarians today are Black.

The roundtable and exhibition, as well as the preparatory research conducted by a team of researchers from the Princeton University Library and the Index of Medieval Art, were funded by the Princeton Histories Fund. The team’s findings, on view as part of the exhibit, include the discovery of Greene’s hand in library records, a letter pinpointing the beginning of her work with the Morgan in summer 1905, and a fascinating correspondence documenting her continuing professional relationship with Princeton faculty and staff, including as a member of the Visiting Committee for the Department of Art & Archaeology, after her departure for New York. Scheide Librarian and Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Eric White introduced the exhibition, which will be on view through February 2025.