Robin Morgan, the poet, author and feminist organizer whose work helped shape the modern women’s movement, died in New York on September 5, 2026. She was 85.
Her son, Blake Morgan, confirmed her death to The Associated Press, which reported that she had experienced several health problems in recent weeks. Ms. magazine, where she spent decades as a contributor and editor, said she died peacefully in her sleep.
Morgan’s career stretched across remarkably different chapters of American life. She became a familiar face on television as a child, then left acting to pursue writing. As an adult, she helped organize feminist protests, edited influential anthologies and worked to give women greater influence over how their lives were represented in the media.
Her public achievements were extensive, but writing remained central to her identity. Even late in life, she was planning new essays, fiction and poetry.
From Childhood Television to a Life in Writing
Long before readers knew Morgan through her books, audiences knew her as a child performer.
According to her official biography, her mother and aunt introduced her to modeling when she was a toddler. By 1945, at just four years old, she had her own nationally syndicated radio program, The Little Robin Morgan Show.
Television brought wider recognition. Morgan played Dagmar Hansen in the CBS series Mama, which followed a Norwegian-American family living in San Francisco. The role made her one of the recognizable young performers of early television.
She also appeared in live television dramas and productions including Alice in Wonderland. Her childhood career placed her alongside established actors and directors at a time when television was still developing its own traditions.
Yet acting was not the future she wanted. Her official biography says she left Mama at 14 and began publishing serious poetry in literary magazines at 17.
That decision marked a lasting change in direction. The young performer who had spent years interpreting other people’s words increasingly devoted herself to writing her own.
Sisterhood Is Powerful and an Expanding Literary Career
Morgan eventually published more than 20 books spanning poetry, fiction and nonfiction.
Her best-known editorial work, Sisterhood Is Powerful, appeared in 1970. The anthology brought together women’s experiences and arguments at a pivotal moment for feminism, helping readers connect concerns in their own lives with a broader movement for change.
Her official website notes that the New York Public Library included the anthology among its selection of influential twentieth-century books.
Morgan continued that work through Sisterhood Is Global in 1984 and Sisterhood Is Forever in 2003. Together, the titles reflected her enduring interest in women’s voices across generations and national boundaries.
Her literary output also included poetry collections such as Monster and Harvesting Darkness, as well as the memoir Saturday’s Child.
The range matters when remembering her. Morgan was not solely an organizer who occasionally wrote about politics. She maintained a substantial literary career alongside her public activism, working in forms that allowed room for personal experience, imagination and uncertainty.
Organizing for Women’s Rights
During the 1960s, Morgan participated in civil rights and anti-Vietnam War activism before becoming deeply involved in radical feminist organizing.
She helped establish New York Radical Women and W.I.T.C.H., a group known for theatrical protests that drew attention to sexism.
One of her most recognizable organizing efforts was the September 1968 protest against the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. It became an important public moment for the emerging women’s liberation movement.
Her activism also involved practical support for other organizers. According to her official biography, royalties from Sisterhood Is Powerful helped establish a fund that provided early financial assistance to women’s groups.
This work extended beyond individual demonstrations. Morgan helped build organizations intended to keep supporting women after the headlines and public attention had moved elsewhere.
Her international work included helping establish the Sisterhood Is Global Institute and traveling widely as a journalist, lecturer and organizer.
Her Years at Ms. Magazine
Morgan became a contributing editor at Ms. in 1979 and served as editor-in-chief from 1989 to 1994.
During her leadership, the magazine relaunched as an international, advertising-free publication. She later continued its global work in an editorial role.
In its remembrance, Ms. described her commitment to publishing poetry and fiction alongside reporting and political discussion. She made room for established writers while also welcoming voices new to the magazine.
That approach reflected her belief in literature’s ability to make difficult subjects understandable on a personal level.
Her relationship with Ms. lasted far beyond her years leading its newsroom. The magazine’s tribute recalled a writer who was still looking forward to new projects as she stepped back from her responsibilities.
Building Opportunities Through the Women’s Media Center
In 2005, Morgan joined Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem in founding the Women’s Media Center.
The organization works to expand women’s participation and influence in media, including their presence as journalists, experts and subjects of coverage.
Morgan also brought her own voice to broadcasting through Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan, combining commentary with conversations about literature, politics and public life.
Her career had begun behind a microphone as a child. Decades later, broadcasting became another way to pursue the questions that had occupied her throughout adulthood: whose experiences receive attention, who gets heard and who helps shape the public conversation.
Morgan leaves a legacy preserved in books, magazines, broadcasts and the organizations she helped establish. Her life connected literary work with sustained public engagement, giving successive generations of readers and activists ideas to consider, challenge and carry forward.