THE GIOVANNI SCHIAVO SERIES is, to echo its namesake, "an attempt to rescue from oblivion," the work of the founders of Italian American and Italian Diaspora studies as an academic discipline. The field has expanded greatly, especially during the last twenty-five years of the twentieth century; as a result, a plethora of contemporary works fill the shelves of scholars, readers, and university libraries. However, many of the classics remain out of print. Hence, in the spirit of Giovanni Schiavo, who sought to highlight the experience of Italian Americans' forgotten past, we seek to do the same but with scholarly works on Italian American subjects.
Our mission is to re-shed light on works that are no longer easily accessible or widely read. Plans include the creation of "readers" for some of the fi eld's founders and, hopefully, a collection from contemporary scholars analyzing the founders of the fi eld. We hope you enjoy the current reprint and continue to support our endeavor.