Marcyliena Morgan, the founder of Harvard’s Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute, passed away at the age of 75

The Hip Hop Archive & Research Institute was renamed by the institution in Morgan’s honor.

The Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute at Harvard University was founded by renowned academic and cultural historian Marcyliena Morgan, who died at the age of 75 from Alzheimer’s disease complications. 

One of the most renowned voices in the study of language, identity, and the influence of popular culture on social discourse is Morgan, who was born in 1950 and grew up in Chicago.

Recognizing the genre’s profound intellectual and cultural significance at a time when few academics did, Morgan founded the Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute in 2007 after joining Harvard’s faculty. 

Although she was first dubious about rap’s capacity to educate, she eventually came to see hip-hop as an essential platform for community, expression, and creativity. The Wall Street Journal quotes her as saying in her book The Real Hiphop, published in 2009.

“I gained respect for hip-hop culture because, despite all of its excesses and some well-earned social criticism, it is still a unique setting where young Black and brown people are respected and honored by their peers.” 

Because they seek for and “represent” knowledge and truth, and because they are proud of their identity and origins, they are revered as gods and goddesses.

In an Instagram post, the Harvard Hutchins Center revealed her death, noting that earlier this month the Archive was renamed the Marcyliena H. Morgan Hip Hop Archive & Research Institute.

“Professor Morgan established the first, biggest, and greatest archive in the world to document the enduring cultural phenomenon of hip-hop art, music, and culture. The study of this most important and international of art forms will continue in her honor at the Hutchins Center.

Marcy Morgan was the lifeblood of the Harvard Hutchins Center and AAAS communities in many ways, and her absence will be felt greatly. We are currently thinking of her family, her cherished husband, Professor Lawrence Bobo, and everyone who loved her.

Professor Morgan’s work and lasting influence will soon be the subject of a feature in the Harvard Gazette. Her legacy endures across generations and disciplines, much like the art genre she so fervently championed and praised.

VIBE offers the family of Marcyliena Morgan our deepest sympathies.