{"id":38658,"date":"2025-02-01T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=38658"},"modified":"2025-02-02T06:46:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T06:46:18","slug":"the-black-librarian-who-rewrote-the-rules-of-power-gender-and-passing-as-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/the-black-librarian-who-rewrote-the-rules-of-power-gender-and-passing-as-white\/","title":{"rendered":"The Black librarian who rewrote the rules of power, gender and passing as white"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Deborah W. Parker<\/a>, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust Because I am a Librarian doesn\u2019t mean I have to dress like one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this breezy pronouncement, Belle da Costa Greene<\/a> handily differentiated herself from most librarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stood out for other reasons, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early 20th century \u2013 a time when men held most positions of authority \u2013 Greene was a celebrated book agent, a curator and the first director of the Morgan Library. She also earned US$10,000 a year<\/a>, about $280,000 today, while other librarians were making roughly $400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was also a Black woman who passed as white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in 1879, Belle was the daughter of two light-skinned Black Americans, Genevieve Fleet and Richard T. Greener<\/a>, the first Black man to graduate from Harvard. When the two separated in 1897, Fleet changed the family\u2019s last name to Greene and, along with her five children, crossed the color line. Belle Marion Greener became Belle da Costa Greene \u2013 the \u201cda Costa\u201d a subtle claim to her Portuguese ancestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sepia
One of the nine known portraits of Belle da Costa Greene that photographer Clarence H. White made in 1911. Biblioteca Berenson, I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When banking magnate J.P. Morgan<\/a> sought a librarian in 1905, his nephew Junius Morgan recommended Greene, who had been one of his co-workers at the Princeton Library<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henceforth, Greene\u2019s life didn\u2019t just kick into a higher gear. It was supercharged. She became a lively fixture at social gatherings among America\u2019s wealthiest families. Her world encompassed Gilded Age mansions, country retreats, rare book enclaves, auction houses, museums and art galleries. Bold, vivacious and glamorous, the keenly intelligent Greene attracted attention wherever she went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found myself drawn to the worlds Greene entered and the people she described in her lively letters to her lover, art scholar Bernard Berenson. In 2024, I published a book, \u201cBecoming Belle Da Costa Greene<\/a>,\u201d which explores her voice, her self-invention, her love of art and literature, and her path-breaking work as a librarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet I\u2019m often asked whether Greene mentions her passing as white in her writings. She did not. Greene was one of hundreds of thousands of light-skinned Black Americans who passed as white in the Jim Crow era<\/a>. While speculation about Greene\u2019s background circulated in her lifetime, nothing was confirmed until historian Jean Strouse revealed the identities of Greene\u2019s parents in her 1999 biography, \u201cMorgan: American Financier<\/a>.\u201d Until that point, only Greene\u2019s mother and siblings knew the story of their Black heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPassing\u201d can often raise more questions than answers. But Greene did not largely define herself through one category, such as her racial identity. Instead, she constructed a self through the things she loved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I love this life \u2013 don\u2019t you?\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In my view, any consideration of Greene\u2019s attitudes toward her own race must remain an open question. And uncertainty can be acknowledged \u2013 even embraced \u2013 with judgments suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Morgan Library & Museum currently has an exhibition<\/a> on Greene that will run until May 4, 2025 \u2013 one that\u2019s already generated debates about Greene and the significance of her passing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One section of the exhibition, \u201cQuestioning the Color Line,\u201d includes novels on passing, paintings such as Archibald J. Motley Jr.\u2019s \u201cThe Octoroon Girl<\/a>,\u201d photographs of Greene, and clips from Oscar Micheaux\u2019s 1932 film \u201cVeiled Aristocrats<\/a>\u201d and John M. Stahl\u2019s 1934 film \u201cImitation of Life<\/a>,\u201d which portray painful scenes between white-passing characters and their family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of these objects clarifies Greene\u2019s particular relationship to passing. Instead, they place the librarian within melodramatic and conventional representations about passing that stress self-division and angst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know \u2013 perhaps we will never know \u2013 whether Greene had similar moments of self-doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Newspaper
Greene frequently received glowing press coverage. The Morgan Library & Museum<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yet some critics have concluded as much. In his review of the exhibition for The New Yorker<\/a>, critic Hilton Als laments what Greene\u2019s passing had cost her. He describes her as a \u201cgirl who loved power,\u201d a woman who \u201cbecame a member of another race \u2013 not Black or white but alternately grandiose and self-despising.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot of certainty in such a pronouncement \u2013 and scant evidence furnished to support such declarations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times columnist John McWhorter takes issue with Als\u2019s depiction<\/a> of the librarian\u2019s passing in a Jan. 23, 2025, article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing passages from her letters in which Greene excitedly describes reading the Arabic folktales \u201cThe Thousand and One Nights\u201d and seeing exhibitions of modern art, McWhorter asks readers to reconsider this \u201cwitty, puckish soul who savored books and art\u201d and \u201chad an active social life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if Greene gave her race little thought, McWhorter wonders. What if she simply saw the notion of race and racial categorization as \u201ca fiction\u201d and instead lived her life to its fullest? Of course, her light skin afforded her the opportunity that other Black people of her era didn\u2019t have. But does that necessarily mean that she was self-loathing or conflicted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[W]e are all wearing trousers and I love them,\u201d Greene writes in one letter<\/a> to Berenson, adding, \u201cThe Library grows more wonderful every day and I am terribly happy in my work here \u2026 I love this life \u2013 don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greene\u2019s vitality captivated Berenson, who once described the librarian as \u201cincredibly and miraculously responsive<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The connoisseur was not the only contemporary who admired Greene\u2019s effervescence. In \u201cThe Living Present<\/a>,\u201d an account of the activities of women before and after World War II, Greene\u2019s friend Gertrude Atherton<\/a> paid tribute to Greene, a \u201cgirl so fond of society, so fashionable in dress and appointments\u201d that she could impress any stranger with her \u201coverflowing joie de vivre.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crafting an aura<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Viewed through a more expansive lens, Greene\u2019s passing can be seen as part of an exercise in self-fashioning and self-invention<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greene dressed to be noticed \u2013 and she was. Meta Harrsen, the librarian Greene hired in 1922, offers a rare eye-witness account<\/a>. On the day Greene interviewed Harrsen, \u201cshe wore a dress of dark red Italian brocade shot with silver threads, a gold braided girdle, and an emerald necklace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greene understood well the power of clothes to project a distinct identity \u2013 a highly crafted one in this case, and one befitting a connoisseur of rare books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Woman
Greene poses for a Time magazine portrait in 1915. The Morgan Library & Museum<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At that, she excelled. She became known for her stunning acquisition coups: her purchase of 16 rare editions<\/a> of the works of English printer William Caxton at an auction; her procurement of the highly coveted Crusader\u2019s Bible<\/a> through a private negotiation; and her acquisition of the Spanish Apocalypse Commentary<\/a>, a medieval text written by a Spanish monk that Greene was able to buy at a steep discount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, a 1915 photo<\/a> captures Greene\u2019s confidence and aura more than any other image of the librarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She posed in her home and wasn\u2019t shot in soft focus with a studio backdrop as other photographs tend to portray her. Sitting on the arm of a large chair upholstered in a tapestry weave, she wears an elaborate hat with a large ostrich plume, a high-necked blouse under a long, loosely belted jacket with a ruffled cuff over a long dark skirt. The decor is no less striking: Flemish tapestries decorate the walls behind her, and a liturgical vestment is draped over the bookcase. Looking directly at the viewer, Greene is assured and poised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greene\u2019s stylish flair was not simply decorative. It was a testament to her vibrant personality and the joy she took in her work. Rather than judge her according to contemporary notions of racial identity, I prefer to marvel over her achievements and how she became a model for generations of future librarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greene didn\u2019t just pass. She surpassed \u2013 in spectacular ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deborah W. Parker<\/a>, Professor of Italian, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deborah W. Parker, University of Virginia \u201cJust Because I am a Librarian doesn\u2019t mean I have to dress like one.\u201d 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 \u2013 a time when men held most positions of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":38659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293,37,279,8025,292,7,294,10,296,36,38],"tags":[11000,15991,1921,6477,728,4997,839,15993,7739,885,891,886,860,4743,15992,10719,3944],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38658"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38660,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38658\/revisions\/38660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}