1820 Todd Street (possibly 62nd Street)
Being an established part of the larger community continued to be an issue for many people of color. In 1917, successful South Asian immigrant shop-owners Vaishno Das Bagai and his wife Kala hoped to move their family to South Berkeley.
Mr. Bagai purchased a home at 1820 Todd Street where, like Mr. Shima, intended to live and raise his family while working in the city.
When the Bagai family rolled up to their home, they found the neighbors had changed the locks on the door. Distraught, Kala Bagai demanded they return back to San Francisco, where they lived until Mr. Bagai's unsettling death.
There's a lot more to the Bagai family story, and to Kala Bagai specifically. You can find a video from the South Asian American Digital Archive on Kala Bagai’s life and activism elsewhere on this site under “Berkeley Communities” page.
