Belle da Costa Greene: a librarian's legacy

Abstract

"Accompanying an exhibition during the Morgan Library & Museum's centennial in 2024, this publication tells the story of the American librarian Belle da Costa Greene (1879-1950), the first director of the institution. She ran the Morgan Library for forty-three years--initially as the private librarian of J. Pierpont Morgan, and then his son Jack, who established his father's collection as an educational and research facility for the public. The book, edited by the Morgan's Philip S. Palmer, Robert H. Taylor Curator and Department Head of Literary and Historical Manuscripts, and Erica Ciallela, Exhibition Project Curator, features contributions from multiple authors on her family, education, portraits, professional networks, and her own art collection, while also addressing larger themes such as race in America, gender and culture, and the history of Black librarianship"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Introduction / Philip S. Palmer -- The education of Belle da Costa Greene / Daria Rose Foner -- The cleverest girl: strategic racial performance and the making of Belle da Costa Greene / Julia S. Charles-Linen -- Becoming or belonging: Belle's camera portraits / Deborah Willis -- Belle Greene and literature / Philip S. Palmer and Deborah Parker -- Plates: Highlights of Belle Greene's Acquisitions for the Morgan Library -- The Ballad of Belle da Costa Greene: Librarian as Medievalist / Anne-Marie Eze -- Belle da Costa Greene, the Stieglitz Circle, and Modern Art / Gail Levin -- Plates: Belle Greene's personal collection -- Belle Greene as director: Transitions / Erica Ciallela and Philip S. Palmer -- Black librarianship and the legacy of Belle da Costa Greene / Rhonda Evans -- Belle Greene as director: Endings / Philip S. Palmer -- Afterword / Tamar Evangelistia-Dougherty.