Inventory of the Robin Morgan Papers, 1940s-2010 and undated, bulk 1970-2000

The series is divided into two subseries: Correspondence by Name and Correspondence by Decade, both of which contain letters to and from Robin Morgan. The Correspondence by Name Subseries is organized alphabetically by last name or place. Prominent correspondents include feminists such as Simone de Beauvoir, Sallie Bingham, Kate Millett, Adrienne Rich, and Gloria Steinem. There are also letters of a personal nature with Morgan's mother, aunts, and close friends, such as Vladimir Urban. Particularly voluminous is the correspondence from Isel Rivero (further documented in the Photographic and Visual Materials Series), with whom Robin Morgan maintained a close relationship during the 1980s, and from Jane Alpert. The latter provides interesting insights into a woman's life in the underground and in prison during the mid-1970s.

While there are several letters in the Correspondence by Decade Subseries that date from the 1950s and 1960s (including a letter from Nehru), the bulk of the correspondence comes from the 1990s. Material from this decade includes letters of both a personal and professional nature; one group of folders contains correspondence pertaining solely to the period during which Morgan was Ms. magazine's editor in chief. In this subseries, the correspondence is arranged in original order, by decade only.

Largest in the collection, the Writings Series contains drafts, notes, manuscripts, reviews, and correspondence (both with editors and readers), as well as other material such as contracts and copyright agreements related to Morgan's novels, anthologies, and poetry. Individual subseries, arranged alphabetically, contain material relating to almost all of Morgan's book-length published works. Within each subseries, documents are in the original order to reflect the publishing process. Materials in the Poems, Other Writings by Morgan, Writings by Others, and Grants subseries are all in chronological order.

The material related to the production of the Sisterhood is Globalanthology is particularly extensive. It includes files on individual contributors, which contain ephemeral publications and correspondence providing insights into the lives of women in different parts of the world. Less extensive material on shorter published and unpublished works can be found in the Poems Subseriesand Other Writings by Morgan Subseries. Particularly noteworthy in the latter are samples of Morgan's earliest writings, which reveal an acute sense of humour and sensitivity at an early age, and the many folders of Morgan's comments on other women's works. Finally, at the end of the Writings Series, there are a few manuscripts by other authors, including poetry and a dissertation about Morgan's work.

Approximately one third of the series consists of drafts of Morgan's speeches; interviews of Morgan by Dorothy Dinnerstein, Chai Lin and Helen Cooper; and material about her joint poetry tour with Kenneth Pitchford. The remaining two thirds of the material is documents related to Morgan's speeches and interviews (chiefly correspondence, schedules, and contracts). All material is in alphabetical order. Several announcements of Morgan's speeches are located in the Oversize Material at the end of the collection.

The Subject Files Series is organized into five subseries. Apart from the International Feminist Activism and Resources Subseries, which is organized by continents, all material within individual subseries is in alphabetical order. Formats include newspaper clippings, ephemeral publications, short articles, and official letters and documents.

The General Subseries includes documentation about a controversial plagiarism case involving Robin Morgan, as well as material documenting Morgan's service with Hands Across America. The International Feminist Activism and Resources Subseries documents feminist activism all over the world. The most substantial material comes from South Africa and the Middle East, where Morgan spent months in the Palestinian refugee camps. The Ms. Subseries contains minutes and memos from editorial meetings, information about distribution, and some correspondence with readers. A large portion of the subseries comes from the years when Morgan acted as editor-in chief (1989-1993) and re-launched the magazine as an international bimonthly free of advertising. There is also material concerning the 1980 issue of Ms. about Russian women and Soviet feminism. The Sisterhood Is Global Institute Subseries contains some annual reports and other institutional documents. Finally, the U.S. Feminist Activism and Resources Subseries consists of subject files that cover a number of topics, including witchcraft, demonstrations against the Miss America Pageant, women's clinics, and anti-pornography campaigns. There are also several documents about feminist conferences in the United States and some material concerning figures such as Gloria Steinem, Marilyn Waring, and Patricia Hearst. A complete set of issues of Rat magazine was removed from this subseries and is located in the Oversize Materials.

Consists primarily of papers related to Robin Morgan's formal education at Columbia University. Formats include class notes, essays, and rather brief notebooks from her trips to the Middle East, Austria and Egypt, further documented in the Photographic and Visual Materials Series and Subject Files Series. Other material includes FBI and CIA files, which Morgan requested through the Freedom of Information Act in the 1970s. Each of the three categories (Education at Columbia University, Trips, and Other Personal) is arranged in chronological order.

Includes material related to Robin Morgan's position as an adjunct professor at the Union Graduate School; as a visiting chair and guest professor of Women's Studies at New College (Sarasota, Fla.); and as a visiting professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of International Affairs. The bulk comes from the Denver position and includes contracts; course material related both to the courses that Morgan attended and to the courses she taught on feminism; student papers; and teaching-related correspondence. The material is arranged in alphabetical order.

Contains cassette tapes with interviews that Morgan conducted with women in the Middle East during two visits in 1985 and 1989. There is also a recording of Morgan's reading of poems selected from A Hot January as well as a videotape titled, Saturday's Child; A Memoir. The collection is arranged by media type.

This series includes 240 photographs and two painted portraits.

Contains materials from the Writings Series, the Subject Files Series, and the Speeches and Interviews Series. Poetry broadsides include the poem White Night, dedicated to Morgan and signed by Adrienne Rich. The Subject Files Subseries contains a complete set of issues of the feminist magazine Rat. Arranged alphabetically.

Addition (2009-0069) (900 items; 1.5 lin. ft.; 1993-2006) includes Morgan's files on sexual trafficking (2000); a master copy and page proofs of The Burning Time (2005-2006); and email printouts of responses to Letters from Ground Zero, which went viral on the Internet following Sept. 11, 2001.

Accession (2010-0176) (18,450 items; 24.6 lin. ft.; dated 1947-2010) includes Morgan's travel files, correspondence, Ms. editorial files, and materials from her research and publications. General correspondence (dating 1996-2009) consists of email printouts and letters detailing Morgan's activities with various projects, conferences, and boards, including Equality Now and the February Sisters. It also includes her thoughts on the 2008 presidential election, including a re-written version of Goodbye to All That discussing the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The Ms. files (dating 2002-2010) include global dispatches, correspondence, and cover story interviews by Morgan of Madeleine Albright and Jane Fonda. This section also contains files from the Ms. search for editor-in-chief.

A large portion of the accession relates to Morgan's writings, poetry, and published books. These materials consist of drafts, correspondence with publishers, publicity and press, reader reactions, reviews of her work, and rights permissions. Works represented include Monster, which included the poem Arraignment; The Mysteries, a play; Upstairs in the Garden; Going Too Far; The Anatomy of Freedom; The Witch Tales; Sisterhood is Forever; and other poems and articles. The majority of the Sisterhood is Forever materials are contributor files, including women like Gloria Steinem, Eleanor Smeal, Eve Ensler, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, and many others.

Also represented are supporting materials, mainly clippings and other miscellaneous items, from Morgan's childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood that she used for writing her Memoirs. These clippings include coverage of her activities as a child star on the television show Mama, as well as her other performances, radio and television shows, and modelling engagements. Morgan's early activities in the women's liberation movement are also represented in these clippings, such as her protesting the Miss America competition in 1969 and coverage of her book, Sisterhood Is Powerful. The original clippings are extremely fragile and may require Technical Services intervention.

Other materials in the accession include various research and project files, many supporting Morgan's activities or writings. For example, there is a series of folders on clitoredectomy and female genital mutilation, culminating in a draft prepared by Morgan and Gloria Steinem of an article published in the 1970s. Materials from the Women's Media Center are closed due to restrictions. There is also a significant amount of audiovisual material, including film, VHS, reel-to-reel audio, and DVDs. These will require reformatting prior to use by researchers.