thumb | right | alt=Donald Allen Wollheim, Frederik Pohl and John Michel | Donald Allen Wollheim, Frederik Pohl and John Michel
The Futurians were an influential group of science fiction fans, writers, and editors who helped shape the genre in the United States between 1938 and 1945. Based in New York City, the group included many individuals who would become major figures in science fiction, including Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Donald A. Wollheim, James Blish, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Damon Knight, and Judith Merril. Known for their left-wing political views and collective approach to professional development, the Futurians were, as Knight noted, "brilliant, eccentric and poor," yet from this group of never more than twenty members came seven of the field's most prominent names. The group emerged when Donald A. Wollheim broke away from the Greater New York Science Fiction Club (GNYCSFC), which was led by Sam Moskowitz.
Isaac Asimov described the split in his autobiography In Memory Yet Green (1979), attributing it to political differences. Wollheim and his followers believed science fiction fans should incorporate Marxist political perspectives and work toward a "scientific world-state," while Moskowitz preferred to keep fandom focused solely on science fiction as literature. Following the split, Moskowitz organized the competing faction into "New Fandom," maintaining what Knight called "an atmosphere of permanent crisis" between the two groups.
According to Pohl, the group "changed clubs the way Detroit changes tailfins," moving through several organizations including the East New York Science Fiction League (1935), the Independent League for Science Fiction (1936), and the International Scientific Association (ISA) (1937) before founding the Futurians.
Activities and influence
The Futurians met regularly in members' apartments, particularly in communal living arrangements they called "Futurian Houses."
The Great Exclusion Act
The Futurians' political activism reached a climax at the First World Science Fiction Convention in New York in 1939. Convention chairman Sam Moskowitz barred six Futurians from entry after discovering they had prepared pamphlets criticizing the convention organizers as "dictators" serving commercial interests rather than fandom. This incident, known in fan history as the "Great Exclusion Act," deepened the rift between the Futurians and New Fandom.
Dissolution
The group began to dissolve in 1945 as members were drafted for World War II service or moved away from New York to pursue professional opportunities. According to Damon Knight, the formal end came when Wollheim sued other members for libel after they voted to expel him from the group over a personal dispute involving John Michel and Judith Merril. This led to the group being labeled "Michelists" after John B. Michel's controversial "Mutation or Death" speech at the 1937 Third Eastern Science Fiction Convention.
Several members briefly investigated Technocracy, attending study sessions before dismissing movement leader Howard Scott as a "crackpot." Individual political affiliations varied: Frederik Pohl joined the Communist Party USA in 1936 but left in 1939;
- Doris Baumgardt (pseudonym: Leslie Perri)