The Morgan Library & Museum surveys the astonishing life and career of its founding director, Belle da Costa Greene.

Known as the “soul of the Morgan,” Belle da Costa Greene established the Morgan Library & Museum’s collection and lived as a “passing” Black woman in the early 20th century.

NEW YORK — In the waning years of the 19th century, Belle Marion Greener, daughter of a prominent African American civil rights advocate, started attending a private school in Massachusetts.