# First Fandom

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". 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.
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.
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.

#### 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 and 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."

#### 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