Marcyliena Morgan, Harvard’s Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute Founder, Dead At 75
Renowned scholar and cultural historian Marcyliena Morgan, founder of Harvard University’s Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute, has passed away at the age of 75 due to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease.
Born in 1950 and raised in Chicago, Morgan became one of the most respected voices in the study of language, identity, and the power of popular culture to shape social discourse.
After joining Harvard’s faculty, Morgan established the Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute in 2007, recognizing the genre’s deep intellectual and cultural value at a time when few in academia did.
Professor Marcyliena Morgan teaches a class in the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute, at Harvard University, on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. The Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship is new at the archive.
Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Initially skeptical of rap’s educational potential, she came to view hip-hop as a crucial space for expression, creativity, and community. As she wrote in her 2009 book The Real Hiphop, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“I developed a respect for hip-hop culture because in spite of all its excesses and some of its deserved criticism from society, it remains a rare place where young black people and brown people are valued and awarded by their peers.
“They are treated as gods and goddesses and put on pedestals for searching for and ‘representing’ truth and knowledge and recognizing and being proud of who they are and where they come from.”
Professor Marcyliena Morgan teaches a class in the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute at Harvard University, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013. The Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship is new at the archive.
Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The Hutchins Center at Harvard confirmed her passing in an Instagram post, announcing that the Archive had been renamed earlier this month as the Marcyliena H. Morgan Hip Hop Archive & Research Institute.
“Professor Morgan created the world’s first, largest, and best archive to record the ongoing cultural phenomenon of Hip Hop music, art, and culture. The Hutchins Center is committed to carrying on the study of this most vital and global of art forms in her name.”
“In so many ways Marcy Morgan was the heart and soul of the Hutchins Center and AAAS communities here at Harvard, and she will be deeply missed. Our thoughts at this time are with her beloved husband, Professor Lawrence Bobo, her family, and all who loved her.”
Harvard Professor Marcyliena Morgan. When news of Harvard denying her tenure was explored in the media many stories surmised that hip hop didn’t have respect in the higher echelons of academia. Some academics believe this is true, but others blame Morgan’s lack of hip hop authenticity and see her as a professor who saw the growing interest in hip hop and decided to jump on the bandwagon. This is on the eve of her moving for a tenured position at Stanford.
Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The Harvard Gazette is preparing a feature on Professor Morgan’s career and enduring impact, to be released soon. Her legacy continues to resonate across disciplines and generations, much like the art form she so passionately defended and celebrated.
VIBE sends our condolences to Marcyliena Morgan’s family.
See the Hutchins Center’s tribute post to Professor Morgan below.
