New Fandom

Fan Club
Name:	New Fandom
Dates:	1938-1940ish
Founder(s):	Sam Moskowitz
Leadership:	Sam Moskowitz, Will Sykora, James Taurasi (the Triumvirs), Mario Racic, Ray Van Houten
Country based in:	USA (New York)
Focus:	Science Fiction
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New Fandom was a New York-based science fiction fanclub founded in 1938. Its official clubzine was also called New Fandom. It seems to have faded from existence by around 1940, but several of its officers planned and ran the first Worldcon in 1939.

During its time in existence, New Fandom was part of the ongoing feud between the "Triumvirs" and the "Wollheimists". Two of New Fandom's officers, William S. Sykora and James V. Taurasi, had come into conflict with Donald A. Wollheim and his own faction of loyalists. All were members of the International Scientific Association as well as the Greater New York Science Fiction League. Both the ISA and the GNYSFL collapsed as a result, and Sykora and Taurasi created the Queens Science Fiction League under a new Science Fiction League charter. They and Sam Moskowitz were the most prominent members of the QSFL along with New Fandom. Meanwhile Wollheim and his friends founded the Futurians.

A new constitution was proposed and ratified at the Philadelphia Conference of 1939.

The final issue of New Fandom's official organ lists Sam Moskowitz as president, James V. Taurasi as secretary-treasurer and Ray Van Houten as the second and final member of the Board of Directors. Jack Speer wrote in Fancyclopedia I that William Sykora had been "discredited after the Chicon by the report circulated there that he had been arrested, and released with a warning, in a charge involving a little girl."

About

JOIN NEW FANDOM!!! Science Fiction’s GENERAL fan organization. New Fandom has been recognized by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference as the most likely general organization for all science fiction readers and fans. You cannot be considered a truly active stfan unless you are a member of NEW FANDOM. Members receive ten issues of "NEW FANDOM", the official club publication, which appears monthly starting with next issue.

Ad for the club in the clubzine's special Worldcon report (page 21 of volume 6, January 1940)

New Fandom has survived a crisis. For more that a year it remained in a state of suspended animation while its fate hung in balance. The club was financially broke. Much of the enthusiasm that had high-lighted its early days were missing. And in addition, there was a huge moutain of indebtness. Unexpired memberships, which could not be disregarded. So early this spring we weakly planned to fill those obligations as well as we could. New Fandom was incorporated into COSMIC TALES under a new membership plan, and slowly but surely we began to whittle down the issues of the club organ we owed to our members.

I will be frank. Bitterly frank. New Fandom was nothing more than an empty husk, scarecely animated, with only tattered rags of its once proud rainment clinging to it.... But amazingly something has happened. Something unexpected. New memberships came in, not many, but enough to arouse hope. We made no elaborate promises to new members this time as on the date of our debut. In fact a;; we could insure them was that even if New Fandom did collapse their money would be safe, they would receive every cent worth in some other publication, whether it be COSMIC TALES, FANTASY-TIMES, or what have we.

Frankly the future of NEW FANDOM rests in the hands of fandom. There is no pretense now that the club has immense reserves... Rather I'll plainly confess that a few well-directed pushes can send NEW FANDOM into the limbo of remembered things....

Fans, it is yours to do with us as you will. You cup the fate of NEW FANDOM in the palm of your hands.

"The President's Message" by Sam Moskowitz; page 2 of the final 4 page issue of New Fandom (Fall 1941)

Speaking of prophets, some comment of the predictions of two might be interesting. I recently ran across the two issues of Scientifan, each of which contains an article of comment and prophecy on the fan field. Sam Moskowitz and Doc Lowndes wrote the articles. Both were, to put it mildly, inclined to see things from personal points of view, but the prejudices balanced one another. To quote from the articles, including correct as well as missed predictions, and remember that these articles were written in 1939:

Moskowitz: "...the success of 'New Fandom' is a foregone conclusion. If the club did nothing else in the next two years but rest on its laurels, it would still maintain its position of prestige for at least that length of time." Do I hear someone ask whether New Fandom tried to see if such rest on its laurels actually would hold up its position? Seems suspiciously so.

Harry Warner, Jr.: Fantasy Footnotes. Fanfare #9 pp. 25-26 (Nov. 1942)

Conflicts

New Fandom was engaged for its entire existence in a feud with the Futurians, in particular Donald A. Wollheim. At Worldcon 1939, matters between the two groups came to a head. (See The Great Exclusion Act.)

In the final issue of the club's official organ, James V. Taurasi printed a rather frenzied message to Raymond A. Palmer, editor of Amazing Stories:

As you may have noticed in the recent two issues of AMAZING STORIES, Editor Palmer accused NEW FANDOM members of writing in and stating that AMAZING STORIES stunk. Naturally everyone has the right to his own opinion, and the right to write in to any editor and tell him what he thought of his magazine. But RAP indicated in the October issue of AMAZING STORIES that only NEW FANDOM members wrote in. This of course was not true. So our President SAM MOSKOWITZ wrote a letter to PALMER, as is seen by the November issue, where he attempted to straighten things out for RAP. It now turns out that it was not NEW FANDOM at all that wrote in those letters, but another organization. NO, Mr. Palmer, Donald A. Wollheim does not belong to, and is NOT a member of NEW FANDOM. He is a member of this other organization. NO, NO, NO, Mr. Palmer, NEW FANDOM never voted or thought to ban the pro magazines, or decide to discontinue connections with all pro magazines, it was this other organization. We have been with the pros from the very beginning, and will continue to be with in the future. What would be the use of an stf organization unless it was connected or for the pro magazines? Can you answer that Mr. Palmer.

We understand Ray that it was all a mixup, so lets forget about it and work together in the future to build up stf.

"RE AMAZING STORIES AND PALMER" from page 3 of the final 4 page issue of New Fandom (Fall 1941)