The first World Fantasy Convention was held in 1975 in Providence, Rhode Island.
A set of photos from the con is posted here.
Among them is a shot of Manly Wade Wellman holding one of the original World Fantasy Awards – a bust of Lovecraft, as ever – presented to him for Worse Things Waiting, the winner in the Best Collection/Anthology category.
[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the link.]
Ah, memories. Wish I could remember more …
The zine Myrdin included a flexi-disk with the issue about the First WFC. I have it up at http://johnnyeponymous.podbean.com/2011/01/03/robert-bloch-at-the-first-world-fantasy-convention/ (Robert Bloch) and http://johnnyeponymous.podbean.com/2011/01/04/frank-belknap-long-at-first-world-fantasy-convention/ (Which is Frank Belknap Long)
Good stuff!
Chris