Amazing Stories Founded in December 1964 with the help of Isaac Asimov, the University of Massachusetts Science Fiction Society is one of the oldest student-run clubs of its kind in the nation. Beginning with a small number of engineering and science students, the Society almost immediately began to share books and magazines among its members, formally opening its library to circulation in 1966. Since that time, the Society has amassed one of the largest circulating collections of science fiction and fantasy literature on the east coast, with over 8,000 volumes. The membership have taken on a number of other enterprises, as well, including sponsoring film series, lectures, art and writing contests, and conferences, and they have published three magazines, Zobee (1967-1968) Grok (1969-1970), and Betelgeuse (1971-present, with lapses).

Selected images (click to expand) In April 2005, the Society transferred its extensive collection of science fiction magazines to the Department of Special Collections. The collection includes complete or nearly complete runs of dozens of titles, running to over 120 linear feet of issues extending back to the golden age of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

 

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