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The Black librarian who rewrote the rules of power, gender and passing as white

  • Written by Deborah W. Parker, Professor of Italian, University of Virginia
imageA 1910 watercolor portrait of Belle da Costa Greene by Laura Coombs Hills.The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, gift of the Estate of Belle da Costa Greene.

“Just Because I am a Librarian doesn’t mean I have to dress like one.”

With this breezy pronouncement, Belle da Costa Greene handily differentiated herself from most...

Read more: The Black librarian who rewrote the rules of power, gender and passing as white

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