Robin Morgan, voice of radical feminism, dies at 85
Robin Morgan, the former child star who became a leading voice of radical feminism as a poet, essayist, editor and second-wave organizer, has died at 85 in New York after a series of recent health problems, her son confirmed Saturday. The news came days after close friend Gloria Steinem died. The Women's Media Center, which Morgan co-founded with Jane Fonda and Steinem, also confirmed her death.
Key Takeaways
- Robin Morgan died Saturday in New York at 85, her son Blake Morgan said, after recent health problems.
- She helped organize the 1968 Miss America protest and edited the landmark 1970 anthology Sisterhood Is Powerful.
- She is widely credited with coining "herstory" and later co-founded the Women's Media Center with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem.
- A former child actor on Mama, she wrote more than 20 books and served as editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine.
Who was Robin Morgan and why does her death matter?
Robin Morgan stood at the center of second-wave feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, shaping how many women lived, organized and talked about power. Julie Burton, president of the Women's Media Center, called her "one of the architects of the contemporary women's movement," praising her writing and "global leadership for justice and equality."
For readers tracking culture, activism and media influence beyond market headlines on BlasterPost Fintech & Crypto Alerts, her career shows how ideas travel from protest to publishing. According to The Guardian, Morgan's death was confirmed Saturday by the Women's Media Center.
What defined Robin Morgan's activism and writing?
In 1968, she helped organize the first protest against the Miss America pageant, where activists tossed bras into a "Freedom Trash Can"—an image later mythologized as bra burning. Her 1970 anthology Sisterhood Is Powerful became an essential text of the modern women's movement.
She is widely credited with coining "herstory" and popularizing the clenched fist inside the female symbol. Poems such as Monster were quoted at rallies; her essay "Goodbye to All That" challenged figures from Hugh Hefner to Abbie Hoffman. She helped found New York Radical Women and W.I.T.C.H., later left the Yippies over their treatment of women, and spent years as editor-in-chief of Ms.
In 1984 she helped found the Sisterhood Is Global Institute. In 2005 she, Steinem and Fonda launched the Women's Media Center to boost women and girls' power in media. She completed more than 20 books, including Saturday's Child, Sisterhood Is Global and Sisterhood Is Forever.
How did Robin Morgan's early life shape her path?
Born in 1941 in Lake Worth, Florida, and raised in New York, she modeled as a toddler, hosted a radio show at five and starred on the TV comedy Mama from 1949 to 1957. Magazines cast her as the ideal girl next door—an image she later rejected as she marched for civil rights and against the Vietnam War.
She married poet Kenneth Pitchford for more than 20 years; their son is musician and activist Blake Morgan. Diagnosed with Parkinson's about 16 years ago, she kept writing and gave a TEDWomen talk in 2015. Blake Morgan said she was still working on new books and poems and called her gift for distilling big ideas into a few words, citing her line "hate generalizes, love specifies."