Difference between revisions of "Nycon"

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Nycon had a list of members, but it was neither accurate nor complete. Not accurate, because many people signed up with [[pseudonyms]] &mdash; in some cases more than one. Not complete in that an estimated fifty people didn't sign in at all! But here is the [[Nycon 1 Membership List]].
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[[Nycon 1]] had a list of members, but it was neither accurate nor complete. Not accurate, because many people signed up with [[pseudonyms]] -- in some cases more than one. Not complete in that an estimated 50 people didn't sign in at all! (The $1 membership fee, while not insignificant to those poverty-stricken young people, was not a major source of convention income, so there was little attempt to get everyone to pay.)
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This list was published in [[Julius Unger]]'s [[fanzine]] ''[[Fantasy Fiction Field]] Nycon Review'' in June 1942 See {{link | website=http://fanac.org/fanzines/Fantasy_Fiction_Field/FanFic_Field875-17.html| text=here for the actual list.}}  To it we have added names for which there is evidence of their attendance.
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<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
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* [[Charles D. Hornig]]
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* [[Harl Vincent]]
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* [[Lloyd Arthur Eschbach]]
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* [[Robert D. Swisher]]
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* [[Otto Binder]]
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* [[Jack Williamson]]
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* [[Ross Rocklynne]]
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* [[John D. Clark]]
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* [[Manly Wade Wellman]]
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* [[Edmond Hamilton]]
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* [[Ray Cummings]]
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* [[Charles Schneeman]]
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* [[Frank R. Paul]]
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* [[Leo Marguiles]]
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* [[Mort Weisinger]]
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* [[Isaac Asimov]]
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* [[Milton A. Rothman]]
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* [[Malcolm Jameson]]
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* [[John Victor Patterson]]
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* [[Kenneth Sterling]]
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* [[John W. Campbell, Jr.]]
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* [[L. Sprague de Camp]]
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* [[David C. Cooke]]
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* [[Charles F. Kanada]]
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* [[Norman L. Knight]]
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* [[Robert F. Young]]
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* [[David V. Reed]]
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* [[Ruroy Sibly]]
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* [[A. S. Johnson]]
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* [[F. E. Hardart]]
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* [[Julius Schwartz]]
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* [[John Giunta]]
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* [[Sam Moskowitz]]
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* [[James V. Taurasi]]
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* [[David A. Kyle]]
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* [[Carl Rachlin]]
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* [[William S. Sykora]]
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* [[Jack Speer]]
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* [[Mario Racic, Jr.]]
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* [[Raymond Van Houten]]
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* [[Bill Mosher]]
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* [[N. Gilbert Dancy]]
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* [[Henry Lemaire]]
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* [[Oswald Train]]
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* [[Ray Bradbury]]
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* [[Betty Cummings]]
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* [[Francis J. Moroff]]
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* [[Joseph Lipton]]
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* [[Myrtle R. Douglas]]
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* [[Forrest J Ackerman]]
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* [[Paul W. Poulson]]
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* [[Eugene Sander]]
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* [[Norman Spector]]
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* [[Alphonse Grimminger]]
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* [[Charles Eastabrooks]]
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* [[Jerome Seigel]]
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* [[Sidney Levine]]
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* [[A. J. Murphy]]
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* [[Marvin Weingold]]
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* [[Irving Frankel]]
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* [[Sol Knegov]]
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* [[Albert Roger]]
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* [[Vida Jameson]]
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* [[Mark Reinsberg]]
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* [[Israel Krenzel]]
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* [[A. W. Lincoff]]
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* [[Scott Feldman]]
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* [[John V. Baltidonis]]
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* [[Walter Sullivan]]
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* [[Gertrude Kuslan]]
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* [[David Verne]]
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* [[Louis Kuslan]]
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* [[John A. Mellerner]]
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* [[George Weinstein]]
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* [[D. De Pass]]
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* [[Frederick Morgan]]
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* [[Hyman Tiger]]
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* [[Dale Hart]]
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* [[Julius Pohl]]
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* [[Richard Ogden]]
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* [[Abe Oshinsky]]
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* [[Robert A. Madle]]
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* [[Jack Agnew]]
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* [[John Rubinson]]
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* [[Julius Unger]]
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* [[Beatrice Unger]]
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* [[Franklin Janson]]
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* [[Robert Studley]]
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* [[Ana Krenzel]]
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* [[A. L. Selikowiotz]]
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* [[Leslie Perri]]
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* [[Allen R. Charpentier]]
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* [[Richard Wilson]]
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* [[Edward Weisinger]]
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* [[Pearl Moskowitz]]
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* [[Morris Moskowitz]]
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* [[Harry Moskowitz]]
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* [[Wilbor J. Widmer]]
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* [[Herbert Schaefer]]
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* [[Jeannette Reol]]
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* [[Herb Goudkot]]
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* [[William H. Dellenback]]
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* [[J. Lacker]]
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* [[Jack Darrow]]
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* [[Julius Pohl, Jr.]]
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* [[Joe Kucera]]
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* [[Robert A. McCarthy]]
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* [[L. H. J. Ubucar]]
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* [[Bernice Keller]]
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* [[Millie Taurasi]]
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* [[Frances Helen Sykora]]
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* [[Frances Alberti Sykora|Frances Alberti]]
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* [[Rose Alberti]]
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* [[Margaret Skiffington]]
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* [[Bill Stockton]]
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* [[Leonard Levy]]
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* [[William Smith]]
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* [[Robert S. Thompson]]
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* [[Ann Racic]]
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* Mr. & Mrs. [[M. Racic]]
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* Mr. & Mrs. [[C. Sykora]]
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* Mr. & Mrs. [[D. Alberti]]
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* [[Murray Theaman]]
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* [[Langley Searles]]
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* [[Leonard Myers]]
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* [[Isadore Flauenbaum]]
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* [[Arthur Young]]
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* [[Arthur Ford]]
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* [[Betty Keat]]
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* [[Ruth Cuher]]
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* [[Frances N. Swisher]]
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* [[Doña Campbell|Mrs. J. W. Campbell, Jr.]]
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* Mr. & Mrs. [[Inmsana]]
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* [[Rudolpha Catherine Rigelsen Paul|Mrs. Frank R. Paul]]
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* [[Joan Paul]]
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* [[Patricia Ann Paul]]
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* [[Leon Burg]]
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* [[David Charney]]
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* [[Warren D. Woolsey]]
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* [[Harry Dockweiler]]
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* [[Thomas Stats]]
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* [[George Herman]]
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* [[Eldred Mendyk]]
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* [[Mary Jameson]]
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* [[Art Widner]]
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* [[Harry Harrison]]
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* [[Kenneth Rohan]]
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</div>
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===Recorded elsewhere as having attended:===
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* Mr & [[Marjorie Z. Wright|Mrs]] [[Farnsworth Wright]]
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* [[Bobby Wright]]
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* [[William H. Groveman]]
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* [[V. Kidwell]]
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* [[Pete Racic]]
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* [[Erle Korshak]]
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* [[Jack Newton]]
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* [[Conrad H. Ruppert]]
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* [[Richard Wilson]]
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* [[Nelson S. Bond]]
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===Excluded from the convention:===
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* [[Cyril Kornbluth]]
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* [[Donald A. Wollheim]]
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* [[Fred Pohl]]
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* [[John B. Michel]]
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* [[Robert Lowndes]]
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* [[Jack Gillespie]]
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===Boosters===
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The [[program book]], meanwhile, contains a [https://fanac.org/conpubs/Worldcon/Nycon%20I/Nycon%201%20Program%20Book.pdf list of “Scientifictionists”] who each paid 25&cent; to be included, a way of supporting the convention. Like all such lists at [[early conventions]], there are numerous [[pseudonym]]ous duplicates, including many names for [[Forry Ackerman]].  
  
 
==Futurian Conference ==
 
==Futurian Conference ==
  
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A [[conference]] on Tuesday, July 4, 1939, the third day of the Nycon, while many of the attendees were playing a [[Softball Game|softball game]] on Flushing Flats. The [[Futurians]], most of whom had been banned from the Worldcon, and their sympathizers held their own free mini-[[con]] in [[Brooklyn]]. They discussed the [[Exclusion Act]] and [[Michelism]].
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A [[conference]] held on Tuesday, July 4, 1939, the third day of the Nycon, while many of the Worldcon attendees were playing a [[Softball Game|softball game]] on Flushing Flats. The [[Futurians]], most of whom had been banned from the Worldcon, and their sympathizers held their own free mini-[[con]] in [[Brooklyn]]. They discussed the [[Exclusion Act]] and [[Michelism]].
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{{fancy1 | text=
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From '''Conference''' – Third day of the [[Nycon]], where most of the attendees were [[Softball Game|playing softball on Flushing Flats]], the [[Futurians]] and their sympathizers met in a [[Futurian Conference]]. They discussed the [[Exclusion Act]] and [[Michelism]].
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}}
  
 
==More==
 
==More==

Revision as of 23:34, 22 July 2021

The First Worldcon, held Sunday, July 2–Tuesday, July 4, 1939, at Caravan Hall in New York. GoH: Frank R. Paul. Chairman: Sam Moskowitz.

The 1939 Worldcon simply called itself the "World Science Fiction Convention". It has subsequently been called "Nycon I" (a nickname initially tagged on it by detractors) and "The 1939 Worldcon".

The convention was controlled by a so-called 'Ruling Triumvirate' of Moskowitz, William S. Sykora and James V. Taurasi. In the Exclusion Act (which see), they attempted to keep some members of the Futurians from attending after a long history of feuding between the club and the concom, exacerbated when Dave Kyle (who wasn’t banned) anonymously created A Warning!, a somewhat incendiary pamphlet. He had hidden the copies, but the Triumvirs found it.

One event held at the First Worldcon did not become a Tradition: A softball game.

NYCon did not select a site for the next Worldcon — it had not occurred to the NYCon committee that it could possibly be an annual event. But fandom loved it, and a few months later, at Philcon 1939, the fans present voted to hold another Worldcon in 1940 in Chicago. See 1940 Worldcon Site Selection.

Members[edit]

It is difficult these days when there are fans of all ages to appreciate how young fandom was in 1939. Here is a table of ages of major figures during the First Worldcon:

Sam Moskowitz (the chairman!) 19
Donald A. Wollheim 25
John W. Campbell, Jr. 29
Robert A. Heinlein 32
James V. Taurasi 22
Bob Tucker 25
Jack Speer 19
Dave Kyle 20
Fred Pohl 20
Isaac Asimov 19
E. E. Smith (the old man!) 49

Nycon 1 had a list of members, but it was neither accurate nor complete. Not accurate, because many people signed up with pseudonyms -- in some cases more than one. Not complete in that an estimated 50 people didn't sign in at all! (The $1 membership fee, while not insignificant to those poverty-stricken young people, was not a major source of convention income, so there was little attempt to get everyone to pay.)

This list was published in Julius Unger's fanzine Fantasy Fiction Field Nycon Review in June 1942 See here for the actual list. To it we have added names for which there is evidence of their attendance.

Recorded elsewhere as having attended:[edit]

Excluded from the convention:[edit]

Boosters[edit]

The program book, meanwhile, contains a list of “Scientifictionists” who each paid 25¢ to be included, a way of supporting the convention. Like all such lists at early conventions, there are numerous pseudonymous duplicates, including many names for Forry Ackerman.

Futurian Conference[edit]

A conference held on Tuesday, July 4, 1939, the third day of the Nycon, while many of the Worldcon attendees were playing a softball game on Flushing Flats. The Futurians, most of whom had been banned from the Worldcon, and their sympathizers held their own free mini-con in Brooklyn. They discussed the Exclusion Act and Michelism.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944
From Conference – Third day of the Nycon, where most of the attendees were playing softball on Flushing Flats, the Futurians and their sympathizers met in a Futurian Conference. They discussed the Exclusion Act and Michelism.

More[edit]

Noreascon Three printed reminiscences of NYCon by a number of attendees in its PB:

Other con reports:

See also New York Worldcons and Early Conventions.

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959
from Convention NYCon I was held in New York 2-4 July under the auspices of New Fandom as the World Science Fiction Convention, "First" being added later. (Annual Worldcons were not at first contemplated; idea and site for the ChiCon were not formally approved by fans till the PhilCo later this year.) With a total attendance of 200, it was the largest before World War II ended major conventions. It set the pattern for subsequent conventions lasting more than one day, but was marred by the Exclusion Act. The name of NYCon (or "Fifth Eastern") was tagged on it by the Wollheimists to downgrade the claim implicit in "World", but after the ChiCon such portmanteau-names were always used.
From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944
The First World Science-Fiction Convention in New York in 1939; called originally by its enemies who denied that it was a "world" convention, the name was generally adopted after the Chicon. The enemies of WSFC committee also called it the World's Fair Science-Fiction Convention, 1939 being the first year of the NY Worlds fair.


first Worldcon - Bidding - Hugos Chicon I
1939
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