The Italians arrived early in the development of California, and therefore had opportunities not available in the East, Midwest and South.  

The Italians came in Three Waves: The first arrivals, flocking to the state from the mid-19th century until shortly before World War II, were driven by poverty and struggle. Members of the second group, from the period just before the war until 1970, were largely middle-class Italians who wanted to join their relatives or escape postwar ruins. The third group - entrepreneurs, scientists, professionals and academics - was drawn by opportunities not available in Italy. 

The first wave of Italian immigrants established farms, canneries, factories, wineries and banks, as well as Santa Clara University, the University of San Francisco and the San Francisco Opera Company. Their legacy survives today: Del Monte, Italian Swiss Colony, Bank of America, Ghirardelli Chocolate Co. and Jacuzzi whirlpools are just a few examples. 

San Francisco Chronicle; By Patricia Yollin, Special to The Chronicle; Tuesday, November 24, 2009 

Paola Bagnatori stared at the photograph on the wall of the San Francisco museum that she runs. For once, she wasn't simply staging an exhibition - she was in it. 

The picture was taken in November 1946. She was 17 years old on a ship headed for America. Italy was virtually bankrupt; and Bagnatori's father, a colonel who'd been looking forward to a dignified and comfortable retirement, no longer had a pension. 

"He didn't know how to do anything. He basically had to start his life over," said Bagnatori, managing director of the Museo ItaloAmericano at Fort Mason, where an exhibition titled "In Cerca di Una Nuova Vita" ("In Search of a New Life") examines Italian immigration to California from 1850 to the present. 

Starting over is a major theme of the show, which runs through March 28 and takes visitors into the lives of the Italians who came to California in three waves spanning almost 160 years. 

The first arrivals, flocking to the state from the mid-19th century until shortly before World War II, were driven by poverty and struggle. Members of the second group, from the period just before the war until 1970, were largely middle-class Italians who wanted to join their relatives or escape postwar ruins. The third group - entrepreneurs, scientists, professionals and academics - was drawn by opportunities not available in Italy. 

Like many immigrants, Col. Bruno Civoli, Bagnatori's father, spoke no English when he landed in California. Unlike most, he had belonged to the country's elite military caste and enjoyed a life of privilege and prestige. But 35 years in the king's army didn't count for a thing when he had to find a way to support his wife and two daughters in San Francisco, their new home. So he decided to import inexpensive souvenirs from his native Florence and sell them to gift shops around town. 

"Every day he'd make the rounds with his little bag, to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, the Cliff House," Bagnatori recalled. 

The trinkets Civoli peddled are on display at the museum, along with his sword and medals awarded by King Vittorio Emanuele III. They are among many objects - along with historic photographs, text panels and a digital exhibit - that tell the stories of the Italian immigrants who helped shape California. 

There's the wedding dress worn by Genoa-born Nina Bertolone on Sept. 18, 1921. There's a model of the ocean liner Rex - among the last ships to leave Europe for America carrying immigrants and Jewish refugees - built by one of its passengers in the 1940s. There is a stonemason's sledgehammer, a horseshoeing pedestal, a Jesuit's crocheted stole, a 1906 ravioli-maker and a 1920s ballot box from the Scavengers Protective Association. 

"I was struck by how far-reaching the impact of Italians on California culture has been," said exhibit coordinator Mary Serventi Steiner. "They arrived early in the development of the state, and therefore had opportunities in many areas." 

The first wave of Italian immigrants established farms, canneries, factories, wineries and banks, as well as Santa Clara University, the University of San Francisco and the San Francisco Opera Company. Their legacy survives today: Del Monte, Italian Swiss Colony, Bank of America, Ghirardelli Chocolate Co. and Jacuzzi whirlpools are just a few examples. 

"After reading about these old Italians, I have to tell you: California was made by Italians," Bagnatori said. "I know I sound very chauvinistic. I wasn't like that before." 

By 1910, Italians controlled 80 percent of the fishing industry in California. In the 1920s, almost 12 percent of the foreign-born population in the state was Italian. In 1932, there were 36 scavenger companies in San Francisco, where Italians were the garbage kings. 

The statistics in the exhibition are startling, the stories moving and the characters memorable. One of them is Sicilian fisherman Antonino Alioto, whose peers could not figure out why he consistently caught more fish than they did. His secret was his fishing net, which was green rather than the usual brown. He had dyed it to blend into the water so that the fish wouldn't notice. 

The "third wave" section of the exhibition focuses on 32 relatively recent immigrants, ranging from Federico Faggin, inventor of the world's first microprocessor, to Roberto Crea, who helped discover artificial human insulin. Through video interviews, many can be seen and heard whenever visitors touch the screen of a digital panel. 

"I miss espresso," composer and musicologist Luciano Chessa says in one interview. "You move here and you start missing the things from Italy you never cared about when you were there. There was never any great joy of experiencing cappuccino when we were in Italy. And yet here it becomes a very important Italian ritual." 

In Cerca di Una Nuova Vita: Through March 28. Noon-4 p.m. Tues.-Sun. Free. Museo ItaloAmericano, Building C, Fort Mason Center, Marina Boulevard at Buchanan Street, San Francisco. (415) 673-2200. www.museoitaloamericano.org. 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/24/DD1H1ANTQK.DTL
 

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