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Don E. Ford slide collection
MS 405  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing History
  • Biographical Note
  • Collection Scope and Contents
  • Collection Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Don E. Ford slide collection
    Date (inclusive): 1930-1967
    Date (bulk): 1952-1967
    Collection Number: MS 405
    Creator: Ford, Donald E., 1921-1965
    Extent: 0.83 linear feet (2 boxes)
    Repository: Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
    Riverside, CA 92517-5900
    Abstract: The collection consists of approximately 850 photographic slides, mostly of science fiction conventions, taken by well known fan Don E. Ford in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Slides in the collection depict various parts of conventions, including audiences listening to performances and speakers, dinners, discussions, and other fan gatherings.
    Languages: The collection is in English.

    Access

    This collection is open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Copyright of these records has been assigned to the University of California, Riverside Libraries, Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Distinctive Collections.

    Preferred Citation

    [identification of item], [date if possible]. Don E. Ford slide collection (MS 405). Special Collections & University Archives, University of California, Riverside.

    Processing History

    Processed by Serena Rodholm, Student Processing Assistant, 2018.
    Processing of the Don E. Ford slide collection was completed by undergraduate students from the University of California, Riverside as part of the Special Collections & University Archives Backlog Processing Project started in 2015. This project was funded by the UCR Library and administered by Jessica Geiser, Collections Management Librarian.

    Biographical Note

    Donald E. Ford, was born in 1921 and began reading science fiction in 1930, starting his lifelong love of the genre. He became a well-known and respected member of science fiction fandom, as a leading member of the Cincinnati Fantasy Group, a founding member of First Fandom, and the author and editor of fanzines such as POOKA. Ford was also involved in a number of science fiction conventions, chairing Cinvention in 1949 and founding the first Midwestcon in 1950.
    In 1953, Ford helped found the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF), an organization which facilitates a competition to provide funds for well-known science fiction fans in North America and Europe to attend a major convention on the other side of the Atlantic. Ford served as the first U.S. administrator of TAFF for four years, and won the TAFF race himself in 1959, allowing him to attend the 1960 Eastercon in London.
    Ford was diagnosed with cancer, and passed shortly after in April of 1965.

    Collection Scope and Contents

    The collection consists of approximately 250 stereo slides and 600 35mm slides of science fiction conventions, fans, and authors taken by Don E. Ford, mostly during the 1950s and 1960s. Slides in the collection depict various parts of conventions, including audiences listening to performances and speakers, dinners, discussions, and other fan gatherings. This conventions represented in the collection were held mainly in the Midwestern United States, with some slides from conventions held in London, Detroit, and Washington D.C. Most slides include some sort of caption written by Ford.
    Materials in the collection also include some personal slides, depicting family events and trips, as well as photographs from the Cincinnati Fantasy Group.

    Collection Arrangement

    The collection is arranged into two series as follows:
    • Series 1. Events, 1930-1964
    • Series 2. Conventions, 1952-1967

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

    Subjects

    Congresses and conventions
    Photography
    Science fiction fans
    Science fiction -- Authorship

    Genres and Forms of Materials

    Stereoscopic photographs
    Slides (photographs)