The First World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was held in the Caravan Hall in New York from 2 July to 4 July, 1939, in conjunction with the New York World's Fair, which was themed as "The world of tomorrow". The convention was later named "Nycon I" by Forrest J Ackerman (who attended the convention in a costume designed by his girlfriend: this is considered a forerunner to modern fan costuming.[1]). The event had 200 participants.
The Guest of Honor at the first Worldcon was Frank R. Paul and the event was chaired by Sam Moskowitz. Along with Moskowitz, other organizers were James V. Taurasi and Will Sykora. Notable people attending included John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, L. Sprague de Camp, Ray Bradbury, Hannes Bok, Milton A. Rothman, John D. Clark, Jack Williamson, Frederik Pohl, Cyril Kornbluth, Donald A. Wollheim and Harry Harrison.
In addition to its groundbreaking role as the first of its kind, the convention was noteworthy for the exclusion of a number of politicized Futurians (those excluded were Wollheim, Pohl, John Michel, Robert A. W. Lowndes and Jack Gillespie); some, like Asimov, Kornbluth, Leslie Perri, and David Kyle avoided the sanction) by convention chair Moskowitz, an event known to fannish historians as "The Great Exclusion Act."[2]
According to Pohl, in his autobiography The Way the Future Was, the Futurians held their own counter-convention which was attended by several who went to the regular convention. He also downplayed the aspect that politics played, himself believing that it was a personality conflict between the convention organizers and the Futurians and said "We pretty nearly had it coming", continuing with "What we Futurians made very clear to the rest of New York fandom was that we thought we were better than they were. For some reason that annoyed them".
Contents |
| Preceded by (nothing) |
List of
Worldcons 1st World Science Fiction Convention Nycon I in New York, USA (1939) |
Succeeded by 2nd World Science Fiction Convention Chicon I in Chicago, USA (1940) |
   | World Science Fiction Society - World Science Fiction Society / Worldcon [Official] |
| | NYcon 1 - 1939 WorldCon - NYcon 1 - 1939 WorldCon - Year Index |
| | Moskowitz, the Futurians and the Great Exclusion Act of 1939 by David Kyle - Mimosa 21, page 7-10. "SaM -- Fan Forever" by Dave Kyle |
| | Caravan to the Stars by David Kyle - Mimosa 29, pages 55-59. "Caravan to the Stars" by Dave Kyle |
| | Time's article about the Convention from July 10, 1939 - The Press: Amazing! Astounding! - TIME |
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