With a view of the Library’s front doors on 36th Street, Greene’s office in the North Room served multiple purposes, from storing books to holding meetings to performing routine directorial tasks, such as signing paychecks. One of Greene’s own paychecks speaks to the wealth she earned working at the Morgan. In 1913, journalists were in awe of her $10,000 salary (about $280,000 today). Greene often remarked that her staff were paid more than those at other libraries, and she ensured yearly raises for her dedicated colleagues.

As the Morgan’s collections and activities grew, so did the need for Greene to manage all the accompanying work efficiently. The staff list from 1943 provides a glimpse of the people Greene hired and supervised, including cataloguers, facilities staff, and curators. In most libraries across the country, the leading roles were filled by men, especially in the world of rare books and manuscripts. While it was common for librarians and library assistants to be women, the Morgan offered a rare example of a strong female-led team.

Greene had high standards for her employees. The director’s job often was not easy. When facing difficulties, Greene treated her colleagues with respect while considering the needs of the collection and those it served. These two letters sent to library assistants, one terminating Helen Crowe and the other promoting Meta Harrsen, reveal the qualities and ambition Greene sought in the people she hired. She even articulates a larger vision for the Morgan as a research library, an effort made by the staff “not only for herself but for the students of this country.”

Greene hired Dorothy Miner in 1933 to help catalogue the Morgan’s illuminated manuscript collection.Greene’s respect for her mentee can be seen through her recommendation of Miner for a position at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. Miner would stay at the Walters for thirty years, creating a legacy of her own. She maintained both a professional and personal friendship with Greene, often seeking her former boss’s advice. In 1954 Miner edited a festschrift honoring her mentor. Titled Studies in Art and Literature for Belle da Costa Greene, the book’s essays range in topics from medieval manuscripts to Dutch paintings, covering each of the Morgan’s collection focuses at the time.

A medieval scholar, Meta Harrsen headed the illuminated manuscript collection at the Morgan during the 1940s and ’50s. Greene often relied on Harrsen to answer inquiries, as seen in the memo about the Tarot cards made for a member of the Visconti-Sforza family. Harrsen would spend her career at the Morgan, helping run the Reading Room, responding to research requests, and consulting on numerous acquisitions, such as the Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript described in the letter to Jane Nichols. The eldest daughter of J. P. Morgan Jr., Nichols was acting president of the board in 1945, adding to the legacy of strong women leading the Morgan.

 

 

Greene formed deep bonds with her female colleagues. Marguerite Duprez Lahey, a bookbinder, was a confidant to Greene, who in this letter shared her daydreams of running away to Europe. Ada Thurston, Greene’s assistant and first hire after becoming librarian, would remain a close friend even after leaving the Morgan. Written following the death of J. P. Morgan Jr., the letter to Thurston, affectionately called “Thursty,” shows a profound connection between the two women as well as the personal importance of the Morgan Library in their lives.

Today the Morgan has the largest collection of Rembrandt prints in North America, thanks in part to Greene’s efforts to acquire the Dutch artist’s work: thirty-one etchings came to the museum between 1924 and 1929. While Greene was traveling, her secretary and assistant Violet Burnie (later Napier) received word of a Rembrandt print for sale. To ensure the piece wasn’t sold, Burnie, followed her boss’s guidance and had the print sent for inspection, cabling the decision to Greene. Greene’s staff was well versed in the strengths and needs of the collection and often helped identify new acquisitions.

Violet Napier worked at the Morgan from 1925 to 1932 as a secretary and library assistant. After leaving the institution, Napier remained close friends with Greene and often brought her son to visit her former boss. Napier recalled her time at the Morgan in this note, remarking on the woman who helped shape her early career. The print of French painter Paul Helleu’s 1913 sketch of Greene, given to Napier as a wedding present, further reflects the lasting affection between mentor and mentee. The portrait, like most images of Greene, dates from her early days at the Morgan. She often turned down requests for photographs later in her career, explaining that the Library itself should remain the public focus.

After nearly forty-four years, including twenty-five as director, Greene said goodbye to the Morgan. Having formed close relationships with her staff, she knew she was leaving the collection and her legacy in well-trained and loyal hands. Known for crediting others with the Library’s success, she continued to diminish her own role, writing to her colleagues, “It is wonderful of you all and makes me feel (at last) very ‘humble’ and very proud at the same time.” Under Greene, the Morgan added over seventeen thousand reference works and ten thousand printed books to its collection, presented forty-six exhibitions, issued thirty-five publications, started a lecture series, and provided scholars with access to some of the world’s most incredible cultural artifacts.