Locating and securing access to material constitute the first steps in my research process.  Because the ubiquity of mass media often leads its disposal, finding materials can be a challenge.  Bibliographic entries, footnotes, and, crucially, acknowledgements in my favorite texts help me to identify sites.  Then I connect with archivists, librarians, and curators via phone and email to discuss the project and determine whether the location possesses sufficient materials to warrant a visit.  Grant applications follow, and then I’m off to a museum or library. Happily, the sites themselves often provide historical intrigue: collections might be housed in a former ducal palace, such as the Centro Studi Wolfsoniana in Genova or a retrofitted dungeon, as in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan.  

Museums, Libraries, Archives

The following collections have provided invaluable ephemera, objects, film clips, and documents for my work on the material culture of Fascist Italy and Italian East Africa and the more generally on the history of gender and race through food.

ITALY

Rome
Archivio di Stato
Last visited: November 2015
Materials: government and company records

Archivio Storico Diplomatico
Last visited: December 2015
Materials: government records of women’s health in A.O.I.

Biblioteca Casanatense 
Last visited: October 2015
Materials: Court records prosecuting madamismo in A.O.I.

Archivio Storico Istituto Luce                                                                                               Last visited: November 2015                                                                                                Materials: propagandistic films, newsreels, photographs

Biblioteca Nazionale
Last visited: July 2012
Materials: national and regional periodicals

Biblioteca del Ministero della Salute
Last visited: November 2015
Materials: O.N.M.I. records and periodicals

Biblioteca Storica Nazionale di Agricoltura
Last visited: November 2015
Materials: Agricultural magazines, manuals, and guides

Museo Nazionale delle Paste Alimentari 
Last visited: November 2015
Materials: Food production magazines, manuals, and guides

Archivio Storico e Museo Birra Peroni
Last visited: November 2015
Materials: Beer-related material culture and ephemera

Florence and Environs
Archivio dei Diari
Last visited: October 2013
Materials: women’s diaries from Italy and Italian East Africa

Archivio di Stato
Last visited: October 2013
Materials: architectural plans

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale 
Last visited: October 2013
Materials: magazine, almanac, and book publishing records and circulation figures

Milan
Archivio Storico Civico
Last visited: July 2010
Materials: Fascist propaganda (posters, almanacs)

Bologna
Antiquario Strada Maggiore
Last visited: July 2010
Materials: food packaging, decorative objects

Parma
Archivio Barilla
Last visited: June 2010
Materials: calendars, audio and video recordings, advertisements

Biblioteca Gastronomica
Last visited: June 2010
Materials: menus, cooking magazines (La Cucina Italiana), cookbooks

Archivio della Comunicazione
Last visited: July 2010
Materials: artists’ studies for advertisements, advertisements

Modena
Museo della Figurina
Last visited: July 2010
Materials: picture cards, food labels, pocket calendars

Ravenna
Biblioteca di storia contemporanea Alfredo Oriani
Last visited: June 2012
Materials: magazines (Autarchia Alimentare, Bellezza), almanacs

Perugia
Archivio storico Buitoni Perugina
Last visited: July 2010
Materials: food packaging, advertisements, company records

Genoa
Centro Studi Wolfsoniana
Last visited: July 2010
Materials: artists’ studies for advertisements, posters, almanacs

Nervi
Wolfsoniana
Last visited: July 2010
Materials: furniture

UNITED STATES

Cambridge
Harvard Schlesinger Library
Last visited: May 2013
Materials: cookbooks

Harvard Loeb Library
Last visited: July 2013
Materials: architecture journals (Casabella‘s Costruzioni)

Miami
Wolfsonian 
Last visited: July 2010
Materials: kitchenware (dishware and appliances), recipe pamphlets, menus

ONLINE ARCHIVES

Ente Nazionale Risi                                                                                                              Last visited: December 2013                                                                                           Materials: call-and-response work songs from the mondine (female rice harvesters)

Libro e Moschetto                                                                                                               Last visited: October 2013                                                                                           Materials: children’s toys, uniforms, office objects (lamps, cardholders)