Kenneth Scambray - Italian Immigration in the American West: 1870-1940

A work of this scope was not possible without the aid of many institutions and people along the way to its completion. First and foremost, I would like to thank the Faculty Professional Support Committee at the University of La Verne for several faculty research grants and generous released time from my teaching responsibilities that allowed me to begin research on this work. Without the universitys generous support, I would not have been able to launch this project. I would also like to thank colleagues in the Western Chapter of the American Italian Historical Association (now the Italian American Studies Association): Lawrence DiStasi, Laura Ruberto, and Teri Ann Bengiveno. Our collaboration in the early stages of this book gave me invaluable support and encouragement to continue with my research and writing. I would also like to thank Professor Andrew Rolle for his work over the years on Italians in the West, especially his early study, The Immigrant Upraised.It was an inspirational work for me that, as any good scholarly work, suggested yet many more avenues of research for a future study. I would also like to thank Professor Gloria Ricci Lothrop, who encouraged me in my research and whose works on California Italians served as models and valuable resources for further research. I would like to extend a special thank-you to Marianna Gatto, executive director of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles. We both shared a common interest in identifying former Italian neighborhoods in Los Angeles and spent several mornings visiting locations that she had identified from her files as the curator of history and education at El Pueblo Historical Monument.

Oral history has also played an important role in my research. Where the documented historical record is blank, I often sought out personal friends and relatives for their recollections of events, people, and places. I would like to thank the following for their always generous time and patience with my questions and sometimes multiple phone calls: Sam Shiro, Reno Morra, Pete DeFendis, Leo La Mattina, Robert Scambray, Terry Scambray, Jo Ann Sorrenti, Diane Sorrenti, Sally Caglia, Al Cribari, John Cribari, James Jordan, Jo Meek, Marie Piccolo, Mauro Simone, and Nancy Vezzuto.