Join us this October as we celebrate a century of science fiction and stop by University Archives to check out a new exhibit curated by Rod Henshaw, Dean Emeritus, Cowles Library.

Celebrating a Century of Science Fiction: The Legacy of Amazing Stories is on display Oct. 1–31 on the second floor of Cowles Library, outside Drake University Archives & Special Collections.

2026 marks the 100th anniversary of Amazing Stories, the first magazine devoted entirely to science fiction, founded under the editorship of Hugo Gernsback. The pulp magazines of the 1920s and ’30s became a proving ground for science fiction writers, and by the early 1940s, the genre had entered its “Golden Age,” with Astounding Science Fiction, under editor John W. Campbell, hosting writers such as Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt, and Arthur C. Clarke.

These magazines also drew a devoted fan base known as “First Fandom,” who held the first World Science Fiction Convention in 1939 in New York City. “Worldcon” continues today, drawing tens of thousands of fans each year.

Among the 1939 attendees was a young Ray Bradbury, destined for one of the greatest literary careers of any American author. His works, including The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and The October Country, became literary classics and helped propel science fiction into a global cultural phenomenon.

— Hope Bibens, Dean, Cowles Library