Amherst College Summer School

Belle Greene attended the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies in Northfield, MA from 1896–1898 and did not leave with a degree, which was common for many of the school’s students at this time. In 1900 she attended the Summer School of Library Economy at Amherst College, about twenty-five miles south of Northfield. There she also learned the upright cursive handwriting she later used in her research notes and catalogue cards at the Morgan. This group photograph contains the earliest known image of Belle Greene, taken when she was twenty years old. She can be seen in the back row, against the ivy, with a wry smile and knowing expression. Like the other sitters, she signed the back of the photograph, where she recorded her name and hometown as “Belle Marion Greene, New York City.”