Subject: RE: Information Request: Historical Photographs of the Italian-Swiss Colony, Asti, CA
From: "danika mckenna"
Dear Ms. Cinotto:
Thank you for your inquiry. Currently, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society is planning for the new Museum of San Francisco to be located in the Old Mint building (opening tentatively scheduled for late 2010). Unfortunately, we do not have our research staff and facilities yet in place and are therefore unable to provide you with much assistance regarding your request. Our very limited collection is not publicly accessible at this time and I have found no reference to the photograph collection you have described below in our archives.
The San Francisco Public Library can offer some resources to you regarding research and/or exhibit partnerships. The telephone number for the Public History room is (415) 557-4567 and their website is http://www.sfpl.org/librarylocations/sfhistory.htm. Or you can re-reference the additional resource section of our website for other organizations which may be of assistance http://www.sfhistory.org/index.php?pageid=44.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Danika McKenna
Deputy Executive Director
San Francisco Museum and Historical Society
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Simone Cinotto <simone.cinotto@unito.it>
Date: Mar 26, 2007 3:13 AM
Subject: Information Request: Historical Photographs of the Italian-Swiss Colony, Asti, CA
To: info@sfhistory.org
Dear Sirs/Madams,The writer is an Italian historian teaching at the Universities of Turin, and specializing in Italian American Studies. My complete vita withpublications is online at http://simonecinotto-cv.blogspot.com/
My current research project is an exploration of the presence of Italian immigrants in California's winemaking before and after Prohibition. I am especially interested in detailing the function of ethnicity in the labor and entrepreneurial experiences of Italian American winemakers. The project has been funded by the local administration of Piedmont (the wine region in the Italian northwest) and its end result will be a book published in both Italian and English.
I spent the whole month of December 2006 doing research in California, visting libraries and archives such as the Bancroft Library of UC at Berkeley, the Shields Library of UC at Davis, the San Francisco Public Library, the Sonoma County Regional Library at Healdsburg, the University Library of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and the Charles E. Young Research Library of UCLA. Unfortunately, during my stay, I was unable to visit the San Francisco Historical Society. Now I am in the process of writing the book.
The purpose of this letter is the following: we wish to include aphotographic section into the book. We have a modest amount of funds we candevote to cover the expenses of reproduction and, if applicable, rights or other fees. Since the book will deal at length with the case study of the Italian Swiss Colony at Asti, we would be very much interested in including photographs documenting work and everyday life at the Colony, in particular from the period between its foundation (1881) and the early 1920s.
My sense is that the Alfreda Cullinan Collection at the San Francisco Historical Society is the richest repository of photographs on the early days of the the Italian Swiss Colony, including portrays of some of the most influential protagonists of its early development.
I got this impression from publications such as the reprint of the autobiography of the Colony's founder, Andrea Sbarboro, on the special issue, n. 2, Vol. 7, Winter1996-1997, of "The Argonaut" and from Jack Florence's book, "Legacy of aVillage: The Italian Swiss Colony Winery and the People of Asti, California."
Therefore, we would much appreciate if you may provide us with any relevantinformation re the possibility to get reproductions of photographs in the Alfreda Cullinan Collection--or any other photographs regarding the Italian-Swiss Colony--from the SFHS and publish them into my book.
Needless to say, I will be more than glad to provide any further information you may want to receive on my book, its intended audience, and projected uses.
I will be looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your attention.
Best regards,
Simone Cinotto
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