The Librarian and the Astrophysicist (spoiler alert: it's not Katy Perry)
This week we are highlighting a couple of badass ladies that we plucked out of the 2 books that came to our attention via listeners or followers of the pod - the first black librarian Belle da Costa Greene came from Lori's book, and from Karen's book, astrophysicist Dr. Mazlan Othman!
Lori's book arrived in our mail from her publicist, and it is great. The art is lovely. The pages are glossy. It's a beautiful book. Karen's book came to my attention in the comments on Bitchstory's instagram. Her username caught my eye and I clicked on her and then we lickity split purchased her book. If you're a teacher or you're into women's history, I highly recommend either of these books! Are teachers still allowed to teach about women? Probably not. But buy it anyway because someday shit will get back to normal!
Belle da Costa Greene was a young woman whose intellect was noticed and promoted by J.P. Morgan...you know...the rich financier guy. Together they built a truly monumental collection of literature, relics, books, and art. The Morgan Collection was the first of its kind at that time, and they eventually began sharing their treasures with other institutions. Ms. Greene was truly a visionary. Most libraries were just books, but she saw the potential as so much more than that.
She also became an advocate for many underserved communities of women, including other librarians. Here in 2025, I fear they are about to become endangered. They really are undervalued!
On the website you can search and browse their collections and I highly recommend this virtual museum experience!
https://www.themorgan.org/search/collection
Next week I'll talk about the impressive astrophysicist. In the meantime, here's links to both authors' stuff:
Lori Zimmer's book: "I'm not your muse" -
From the publisher:https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/lori-zimmer/im-not-your-muse/9780762485383/?lens=running-press
From Amazon (she has other books so search her name if you love art!):
https://a.co/d/4HXJ1pu
Lori's instagram:
@thelorizimmer
Karen Wang Diggs' book "Awesome Asian Women"
From independent book seller Book Hampton :
https://www.bookhampton.com/book/9781684817238
From Amazon:
https://a.co/d/dwhB94p
Author Website:
herstoryinhistory.com
Karen's Instagram:
@herstoryinhx