Updated
Updated · Ms. Magazine · Sep 5
Robin Morgan Dies at 85, Leaving 50 Years of Feminist Writing and Activism
Updated
Updated · Ms. Magazine · Sep 5

Robin Morgan Dies at 85, Leaving 50 Years of Feminist Writing and Activism

3 articles · Updated · Ms. Magazine · Sep 5

Summary

  • Robin Morgan died peacefully in her sleep on Sept. 5 at 85, just days after fellow feminist leader Gloria Steinem, as Ms. prepared to mark her step-down as global editor.
  • More than 20 books anchored her influence, from the 1970 anthology "Sisterhood Is Powerful" to later collections and essays that helped shape second-wave feminism in the U.S. and abroad.
  • Ms. linked Morgan to the magazine from 1979 onward, including a 1989-1994 run as editor in chief, where she pushed feminist journalism to pair political argument with poetry and fiction.
  • Parkinson's, diagnosed 17 years ago, curtailed travel but not her output; she still planned new essays, another novel and more poems after leaving her editorial post.
  • Her legacy also stretched beyond publishing through the 2005 founding of the Women's Media Center, cementing a global feminist network she spent decades building.

Insights

Beyond the famous Miss America protests, what hidden strategies from Morgan's early organizing could revolutionize today's digital activism?
How did one woman's radical essays and coined phrases permanently alter the visual and linguistic landscape of global protests?
Why did a 1970 underground essay provoke death threats, and how does its core message still challenge modern cultural systems?