The California Italian American Project is designed to make available to students and researchers basic information and resourcs about California's original Italian communities. It plans to eventually encompass all the major communities where Italian immigrants settled in numbers sufficient to constitute a visible presence. Each community will be represented by web pages that provide a brief description of its settlement, the regions of Italy where most immigrants derived from, photos of typical community businesses and cultural landmarks, excerpts from oral histories, and some of the hallmarks of the particular community. It will also offer a bibliography and resources for further research.

In addition to pages on individual communities, the site features pages on significant events—such as the restrictions, evacuation and internment endured by Italian immigrants in California during World War II—and significant economic or artistic areas—such as winemaking, agriculture, banking, opera—where the Italian contribution to California's development was notable.

The CIAP is a project of the American Italian Historical Association, Western Regional Chapter. Questions can be directed to the association via the “Contact Us” section of this website.