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

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.

We follow the transformation of Belle Marion Greener, born to a distinguished black family in Washington, D.C., into Belle da Costa Greene, the sophisticated, fashionably dressed expert in her ...