Passing as white, Belle da Costa Greene managed J.P. Morgan’s fortune from the 1900s
For 43 years, Belle da Costa Greene ran the Morgan Library — 19 years as the private librarian of financier J. Pierpont Morgan and later his son, Jack, then 24 years as the inaugural director of the Pierpont Morgan Library, which is now known as the Morgan Library & Museum.
She did not only help Morgan to organize his legendary collection of manuscripts and rare books, but also transformed Morgan’s private collection into a major public resource which, to date, hosts series of lectures, exhibitions, publications, and research services, all of which first started under Greene.
