First Fandom is an informal association of early, active and well-known science fiction fans.

In 1958 a number of fans at Midwestcon realized amid table-talk that they all had been active in fandom for more than 20 years. This inspired the creation of an organization for longstanding fans under the initial chairmanship of Robert A. Madle, who "in 1958 suggested the idea of forming an organization called First Fandom".[1] Originally only those fans who were known to have been active in fandom before the cutoff date, January 1, 1938, were eligible. Such fannish activity (or "fanac") including writing to letter columns in science fiction magazines, having been published in fanzines, or having participated in science fiction oriented clubs, or just generally doing fannish things.[2]

The term itself is an oblique reference to Olaf Stapledon's classic science fiction epic Last and First Men. In this book the stages of mankind are enumerated. Thus early 1950s historian of fandom Jack Speer began to label successive generations of fans as First Fandom, Second Fandom, Third Fandom, and so forth... all the way to Seventh Fandom and beyond.

Currently the organization allows several classes of membership. For example, a Dinosaur is a member who was active before the first Worldcon (World Science Fiction Convention) held on July 4, 1939, while Associate Membership requires provable activity in fandom for more than three decades.

First Fandom annually presents its First Fandom Hall of Fame award and Sam Moskowitz Archive Award for excellence in science fiction collecting. at the beginning of the Hugo Awards Ceremony at the World Science Fiction Convention.

There is an analogous informal society in Finnish fandom called the Dinosaur Club; the cutoff being the first major Finnish con Kingcon.


Awards

First Fandom recognizes people for their work within the science-fiction community.

First Fandom Hall of Fame Award

This award "is presented annually for contributions to the field of science fiction dating back more than 30 years. Contributions can be as a fan, writer, editor, artist, agent, or any combination of the five." It is usually presented at the Hugo Awards.[3]

See full article.

Posthumous Hall of Fame Award

This award "is presented for contributions to the field of science fiction dating back more than 30 years. The Posthumous Hall of Fame award was established as a separate and equal award with unique criteria in 1994 at Rivercon XIX" and is also usually presented at the Hugos.[4]

1966
David H. Keller
1971
John W. Campbell, Jr.
1994
Gerry de la Ree
1995
Cyril Kornbluth
Mort Weisinger
1996
Henry Kuttner
1997
Mark Reinsberg
1998
Oswald V. Train
Tom L. Sherred
1999
Lynn Hickman
2000
Theodore R. Cogswell
Mark Schulzinger
2001
Gordon R. Dickson
2002
Martha Beck
2003
Philip Francis Nowlan
2004
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2007
Don H. Dailey
2008
Isaac Asimov
2009
Walter J. Daugherty
2010
Ray Cummings
2011
Oliver Saari
2012
James "Rusty" Hevelin
2013
Ted Dikty
Raymond A. Palmer
2014
John 'Ted' Carnell
Walter H. Gillings
2016
Olon F. Wiggin
Lew Martin
Roy V. Hunt
2017
Jim Harmon
2018
June Moffatt
Len Moffatt
2019
Bob Shaw
James White
Walt Willis
2020
Chad Oliver
2021
Richard & Pat Lupoff
2022
August Derleth

Sam Moskowitz Award Winners

This award is "for excellence in science fiction collecting. Most years, the award is presented at the World Science Fiction Convention."[5]

1998
Christine Moskowitz
1999
Forrest J Ackerman
2000
Ray Beam
2001
Robert Weinberg
2002
Robert A. Madle
2003
Rusty Hevelin
2008
Bob Peterson
Frank Robinson
2009
Joe Wrzos
2012
Donn Albright
2013
Howard Frank
2014
Mike Ashley
2015
David Aronovitz
2016
Stephen D. Korshak
Ned Brooks
2017
Jon D. Swartz
2018
Hal W. Hall
2019
Dr. Bradford Lyau
2020
John Carter Tibbetts
2021
Kevin L. Cook
2022
Doug Ellis
Deb Fulton

References

  1. "The Last of the Dinosaurs." Accessed April 3, 2023.
  2. Madle, Robert A. "Bob Madle's American Letter", Nebula 40 (May 1959)
  3. "First Fandom Hall of Fame Award." Accessed April 3, 2023.
  4. "Posthumous Hall of Fame Award." Accessed April 3, 2023.
  5. "Sam Moskowitz Archive award." Accessed April 3, 2023.

1. Bob Madle's American Letter, Nebula Science Fiction 1959.

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