Have you learned about any interesting historical figures lately?
Belle de Costa Greene was the personal librarian of
J.P. Morgan in the early 1900s. She was a
young librarian at Princeton who came to the attention of Morgan’s nephew. What no one knows about Belle de Costa Green
is that she is African American passing as white. As she becomes one of the most powerful women
in New York City, she always has to be on her guard so that no one will guess
her secret. Will she be able to find
satisfaction in life?
I was fascinated by Belle’s story. I had never heard about her before and was
riveted that she was a real person in our history. This was the January selection for the Page
Turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library. We met last week and discussed this book.
Even better, Carol the librarian showed us the pictures online of what this
beautiful library looked like. It was so interesting. Belle was able to use
almost unlimited purchasing power to build a world class collection of books
for J.P. Morgan. She was also able to
use her influence to ensure the collection would be able to be used by the citizens
of New York.
I was saddened by her story of never being able to be
her true self. She had a wonderful
childhood in Washington, D.C., but her mother took her family to New York City
to pass for white. Her mother wanted her
children to have good opportunities that she felt they couldn’t have as African
Americans. Her father was the first black
graduate of Harvard and worked towards civil rights. He left the family after they started to
pass. Belle never got over the loss of
her father. Belle had a great love in art collector Bernard, but he really
annoyed me. He seemed very self-centered. I enjoyed Belle’s triumphs but felt sad for
all that she had to give up.
Overall, The Personal Librarian was a very interesting
book about a new figure in history for me.
It also got me ready to watch The Gilded Age on HBO. Is anyone else excited about this new series?
Book Source:
Kewaunee Public Library.
Thank-you!
