{{Short description|American activist}} {{Infobox person | name = Kala Bagai | image = San Francisco Call & Post - Nose Diamond Latest Fad Arrives Here From India (2).jpg | caption = 1915 arrival in San Francisco, as reported by newspapers | birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|04|15}} | birth_place = Amritsar, Punjab Province, British India (present-day Punjab, India) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1983|10|04|1893|04|15}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, United States | citizenship = United States | known_for = Immigrant activism | spouse = {{plainlist| * Vaishno Das Bagai * Mahesh Chandra }} }}
'''Kala Bagai''' (later '''Kala Bagai Chandra'''; 1893-1983)<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2018-03-27|title=Kala Bagai: Timeline|url=https://www.saada.org/project/timeline/kala-bagai|access-date=2021-02-11|website=South Asian American Digital Archive|publisher=|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":8">National Archives at Riverside; Riverside, California; NAI Number: 594890; Record Group Title: 21; Record Group Number: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Petitions, 1949-1950 (Box 0427); [https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3998/images/40735_1220706418_0109-01533 No. 142253]</ref> was a South Asian American immigrant and community activist.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Smithsonian Institution|url=http://archive.org/details/1985festivalofam00fest|title=1985 Festival of American Folklife, June 26–30/July 3–7|last2=National Park Service|date=1985|publisher=The Smithsonian Institution|others=W|isbn=|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=89|author1-link=Smithsonian Institution|author2-link=National Park Service}}</ref> The Smithsonian described her as "a life-long advocate for immigrants and a mother figure among South Asian communities in California."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Kala Bagai: Women in America|url=https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/kala-bagai-women-in-america/xKFMfxH9h2xG3xY5|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Smithsonian Learning Lab|publisher=Smithsonian|language=en}}</ref>
== Early life in India == Kala was born into a Punjabi Sikh family in Amritsar in British India on April 15, 1893,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=22 December 2015|title="Bridges Burnt Behind": The Story of Vaishno Das Bagai|url=https://www.immigrant-voices.aiisf.org/stories-by-author/876-bridges-burnt-behind-the-story-of-vaishno-das-bagai/|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Immigrant Voices: Discover Immigrant Stories from Angel Island|publisher=Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2013-05-16|title=Tribute to Mrs. Kala Bagai Chandra (Jhaiji)|url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130516-2802|access-date=2021-02-11|website=South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)|page=3|language=English}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2013-08-21|title=Rani Bagai on "Vaishno Das Bagai"|url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130821-3099|access-date=2021-02-12|website=South Asian American Digital Archive|language=English}}</ref> the daughter of Narain Singh and Kani Dhingra.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|date=Oct 11, 1983|title=Certificate of Death for Kala Bagai Chandra|url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130611-2840|website=South Asian American Digital Archive|publisher=The State of Cite California|location=Los Angeles, California}}</ref>
She married Vaishno Das Bagai and moved to Peshawar to live with him. They had three sons, Brij, Madan, and Ram.<ref name=":0" />
Vaishno Das Bagai was involved with the anti-colonial Ghadar Party.<ref name=":2" /> After the death of his parents, he hoped to move to the United States with his family to join other Ghadar activists, leaving what he described as an enslaved country.<ref name=":0" />
== Immigration == When Kala Bagai was 22, she, Vaishno, and their sons moved to the United States, arriving in San Francisco in September 1915.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2018-03-23|title=This Indian woman fled British colonial rule, only to fight another kind of oppression in the U.S.|url=https://timeline.com/kala-bagai-south-asian-american-digital-archive-history-video-743e6ec1cdf4|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Timeline|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Upon arrival, the Bagais spent a few days in detention at Angel Island. They were questioned about why they immigrated, but officials became less suspicious after seeing that the Bagais had brought all their savings with them.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":11" /><ref name=":4" />
Kala Bagai was one of very few South Asian women in the United States, and her family was among the few able to immigrate together to the United States.<ref name=":10" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hune|first1=Shirley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKrNDwAAQBAJ|title=Our Voices, Our Histories: Asian American and Pacific Islander Women|last2=Nomura|first2=Gail M.|date=2020-03-10|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-1-4798-2110-5|location=|pages=45|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Aalgaard|first=Wendy|title=East Indians in America|publisher=Lerner Publications|year=2005|isbn=0822548712|location=Minneapolis|pages=33}}</ref>
== Life in Northern California == In San Francisco, according to granddaughter Rani Bagai, "She delighted in seeing a city newly rebuilt from earthquake ruins, touring the marvels of the Panama-Pacific Exposition, and walking on a sandy beach, things she’d never experienced in India."<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" />
Kala Bagai's arrival in San Francisco was noted in newspapers like the ''San Francisco Call-Post'' and the ''Washington Post,'' which remarked on her nose ring.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=17 September 1915|title=Nose Diamond, New Fad, Is Introduced at S.F. Exposition|page=5|work=Los Angeles Herald|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19150917.2.497|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=Oct 3, 1915|title=Nose Diamonds Are Very Latest Thing in Hindu Fashions|page=E8|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Cross|first=Michaela Stone|date=September 16, 2020|title=How Kala Bagai Came Home|url=https://www.thejuggernaut.com/how-kala-bagai-came-home?s=ckf71inkb05qb0798gxpbzmst|access-date=2021-02-11|website=The Juggernaut}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=September 17, 1915|title=Nose Diamond Latest Fad…Arrives Here from India|work=San Francisco Call-Post|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:San_Francisco_Call_%26_Post_-_Nose_Diamond_Latest_Fad_Arrives_Here_From_India_(2).jpg|access-date=|issn=2163-4874|lccn=86064451}}</ref>
Vaishno Das Bagai had learned English in school in India, but Kala had yet to learn the language.<ref name=":11" /> She learned English after arrival, with the support of a German family who helped look after her children, giving her time to study.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":15" /> She also found ways to support the Indian independence movement.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Asian Women United of California|url=http://archive.org/details/makingwavesantho00asia|title=Making waves : an anthology of writings by and about Asian American women|date=1989|publisher=Boston : Beacon Press|isbn=978-0-8070-5905-0|location=|pages=22, 449}}</ref>
Wrote Rani Bagai, "And from then on, they were kind of pioneers, because there really were very few Indians there around to help them, or to help them…acclimate…[Vaishno Das Bagai] dressed in a Western style with suits. My grandmother still wore a sari, though. She was very traditional, and she didn't eat meat, so that was kind of hard for her to adjust to, because, you know, so meat-centric, their diet then…But she managed…eating fruits and vegetables, and got by, and so they embarked on this adventure in San Francisco."<ref name=":11" />
In her 1982 oral history interview, Kala Bagai described how she and her husband attempted to move from San Francisco to Berkeley, California, where racist neighbors prevented them from entering their newly purchased home.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Erika|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pVMMFDUgxdMC|title=Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America|last2=Yung|first2=Judy|date=2010-08-30|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-975279-9|location=|pages=145–146, 153–155, 173–174|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-07-16|title=Oral History Interview with Kala Bagai Chandra|url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130716-2997|access-date=2021-02-12|website=South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)|language=English}}</ref>
Wrote historian Erika Lee:<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Erika |url=http://archive.org/details/makingofasianame00leee |title=The Making of Asian America: A History |date=2015 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |others=Densho |isbn=978-1-4767-3940-3 |location=New York |pages=156–158, 172–173}}</ref><blockquote>"The family achieved a dream when they bought their first home in the city of Berkeley. But when they pulled up to their new neighborhood on moving day, they found that the neighbors had locked up the house to prevent them from moving in. 'All of our luggage and everything was loaded on the trucks,' recounted Kala Bagai. 'I told Mr. Bagai I don’t want to live in this neighborhood. I don’t want to live in this house, because they might hurt my children, and I don’t want it. He agreed. We paid for the house and they locked the doors? No!'"</blockquote>They made their lives in San Francisco, where over the years, Vaishno ran several stores.<ref name=":11" /> One was an import store called "Bagai's Bazaar,"<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-05-15|title=Business Card for Bagai's Bazaar|url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130515-2782|access-date=2021-02-12|website=South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)|language=English}}</ref> which sold things like curios and handmade goods from India, embroideries from China, and other goods from Asia.<ref name=":11" /> Another was a general store that sold items like candy, trinkets, soap, and supplies; the Bagais lived in an apartment right above.<ref name=":11" />
== The battle for citizenship == Vaishno Das Bagai became a naturalized United States citizen in 1921,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Bagai|first=Rani|date=2020-03-12|title=Berkeley might name a street after Kala Bagai. This is her story|url=https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/03/12/opinion-berkeley-might-name-a-street-after-kala-bagai-this-is-her-story|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Berkeleyside|language=en-US}}</ref> but his citizenship was revoked in the wake of the 1923 Bhagat Singh Thind decision.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Mahajan|first=Karan|author-link=Karan Mahajan|date=October 21, 2015|title=The Two Asian Americas|url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-two-asian-americas|magazine=The New Yorker|volume=|pages=|via=}}</ref> This forced the family to sell their property, including their store, and left them stateless people unable to get a U.S. passport.<ref name=":11" />
According to Rani Bagai, "that meant that now he could not travel to India unless it was back under an Indian passport under the crown, the British Crown…But there were a lot worse implications…he now could not own a business. So I believe it had to be transferred to a friend or someone who was not Indian. So there were a lot of problems then with that. It was bad enough trying to run it on his own, and the discrimination and the bias, but now having to run it through a second party and, you know, the trust you put into someone to manage the money and give you the money that's owed to you…there were…issues there where he was swindled or lost money and he felt, I think, quite a bit of despair and frustration towards the end. No matter what he did…he can't go home to India. They would pursue him; they would probably arrest him if he came back there because of the work he did with the Ghadar party in San Francisco. He couldn't make a go of things the way he dreamed of in San Francisco, for his family and, you know, the idea of a business and all that were kind of vanishing. So it was a very…depressing, frustrating time for him."<ref name=":11" />
Vaishno Das Bagai committed suicide in 1928.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Wilkerson|first=Isabel|date=2020-07-01|title=America's Enduring Caste System|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/magazine/isabel-wilkerson-caste.html|access-date=2021-02-11|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite magazine|last=Waxman|first=Olivia B.|date=May 3, 2021|title=The Overlooked History of Angel Island, Where the U.S. Enforced Rules Designed to Keep Asian Immigrants Out|url=https://time.com/5954114/angel-island-aapi-immigration-history/|access-date=2021-05-03|magazine=Time}}</ref> In his suicide note, he wrote "I do not choose to live the life of an interned person: yes, I am in a free country and can move about where and when I wish inside the country. Is life worth living in a gilded cage? Obstacles this way, blockades that way, and the bridges burnt behind."<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 17, 1928|title=Here's Letter To The World From Suicide|work=San Francisco Examiner|url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130513-2748|via=South Asian American Digital Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last1=Aneja|first1=Arpita|last2=Waxman|first2=Olivia B.|date=May 3, 2021|title=The Overlooked History of Angel Island, Where the U.S. Enforced Rules Designed to Keep Asian Immigrants Out|url=https://time.com/5954114/angel-island-aapi-immigration-history/|access-date=2021-06-10|magazine=Time|language=en}}</ref>
After becoming a widow, Kala Bagai raised her three children in the United States without holding citizenship.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-09-12 |title="Grandma to Many" |url=https://researchblog.duke.edu/2024/09/12/grandma-to-many/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=Duke Research Blog |publisher=Duke University |language=en-US}}</ref> She managed the family’s finances, received support from friends and acquaintances, and was able to send all three of her sons to college, including Stanford, UC Berkeley, and USC.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last=Dasgupta |first=Arko |date=Summer 2024 |title=Kala Bagai: An Early Indian Woman in America |url=https://samuelduboiscookcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Arko-Dasgupta-IIC-Q_Summer-2024-Vol-51-No-1.pdf |journal=India International Centre Quarterly |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=71–79}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=August 2, 1929 |title=Payments Made on Individual Policy Claims Listed Geographically |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_national-underwriter_1929-08-02_33rd-year_31_0/page/22/ |magazine=The National Underwriter: Life Insurance Edition |page=22 |via=Internet Archive |volume=33 |issue=31}}</ref>
She finally received her United States citizenship in 1950, after the passage of the Luce-Celler Act of 1946.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Kapoor|first=Tarunika|date=September 22, 2020|title=Berkeley street to be named after early South Asian immigrant|work=The Daily Californian|url=https://www.dailycal.org/2020/09/22/berkeley-street-to-be-named-after-early-south-asian-immigrant/|access-date=}}</ref>
== Building community in Southern California == Kala Bagai remarried in 1934, to Mahesh Chandra, another Ghadar activist and an old family friend.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=1982 |title=Passport Application for Kala Bagai Chandra |url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130611-2842 |website=South Asian American Digital Archive}}</ref> She made the choice despite cultural taboos around widow remarriage, informing relatives back in India only after her sons were settled.<ref name=":15" />
Kala and Mahesh moved to Southern California in the late 1940s,{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} where she built a new life for herself.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Fay|first=Sharon E.|date=28 June 1968|title=East Indians Take New Roles in U.S|work=Los Angeles Times|url=|access-date=}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite news|last=Dietz|first=Dorothy|date=February 15, 1949|title=American Wives of India, active group|work=Los Angeles Daily News|url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130818-3093|access-date=|via=South Asian American Digital Archive}}</ref> Granddaughter Rani Bagai described those years: "She flouted her cultural norms by marrying again, to another Indian activist and a graduate of UC Berkeley, Mahesh Chandra. She reinvented herself, attending night school, wearing Western dresses, and even learning tennis. She had many close American friends and never went on a social visit without a gift box of See’s candy."<ref name=":5" />
By the 1950s, Kala Bagai had become an activist and community-builder in the early Indian and Pakistani immigrant community. She organized with other South Asian immigrant and American women, planned arts events, raised funds for post-Partition refugees, welcomed newcomers to her home, and built connections.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last= |first= |date=October 28, 1913 |title="Mother India" Dies in L.A. at Age 90 |url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130516-2803 |journal=India-West |volume= |pages=16 |via=South Asian American Digital Archive}}</ref>
According to Rani Bagai:<ref name=":5" /><blockquote>"it seemed to be my grandmother’s personal mission to create a welcoming community to other immigrants arriving in this land, where she herself was once a stranger, and to show the kind of generosity of spirit to them that had been denied to her and her family. Working with both American and South Asian immigrant women like herself, she went on in the 1950s and 1960s to become an active community builder in Southern California, hosting Indian American cultural events, receptions, and benefits at community halls, theaters, and homes. She built bridges wherever she could between her adopted American culture and the great diversity of Indian culture." </blockquote>Wrote historian Arko Dasgupta,<ref name=":15" /><blockquote>"Kala, an observant Sikh woman who was not even five feet tall, made and retained friends from all social and religious backgrounds. South Asian students from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) could often be found at her house. She was famed for her hospitality and, despite being vegetarian herself, cooked meat for guests. The United States and her American friends no doubt made an impression on Kala as well. She began playing tennis, developed a taste for Mexican food, and came to enjoy the American holiday of Thanksgiving."</blockquote>South Asian immigrant community members would sometimes refer to her as "Jhaiji," a term of endearment.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":6" />
Kala Bagai died in Los Angeles on October 4, 1983, at age 90.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":12" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=Oct 10, 1983|title=Obituary / Death Notices / Funeral Announcements|page=OC A4|work=Los Angeles Times|url=|access-date=}}</ref> An ''India-West'' obituary described her in her final years: "Mrs. Chandra radiated warmth, kindness, and good will to everyone. Her home became a 'little India' to the community, and she became the symbol of "Mother India."<ref name=":6" />
== Legacy == Kala Bagai's photos, letters, and oral history audio are archived by the South Asian American Digital Archive.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Caswell|first=Michelle|title=Excavating memory : sites of remembering and forgetting|date=2016|publisher=University Press of Florida|isbn=978-0-8130-5568-8|editor-last=Starzmann|editor-first=Maria Theresia|location=Gainesville|pages=379–391|chapter=Archival Labor and Materiality in the South Asian American Digital Archive|oclc=932626421|editor-last2=Roby|editor-first2=John R.|editor-last3=Shackel|editor-first3=Paul A. Shackel}}</ref>
Her story became a subject of increasing interest to Asian American and other historians after her death, in articles, books, and an academic symposium.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mozumder|first=Suman Guha|title=Descendants of early South Asian immigrants share personal histories at UCLA conference|url=https://www.indiaabroad.com/indian-americans/descendants-of-early-south-asian-immigrants-share-personal-histories-at-ucla-conference/article_b71e55be-3f7d-11e9-b6bc-375c0c976e0c.html|access-date=2021-02-11|website=IndiaAbroad.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hune|first=Shirley|date=2020-05-29|title=Asian and Asian American Women in the United States before World War II|url=https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-585|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.585|isbn=9780199329175}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COG5RhJ-tTU|title="Kala Bagai, among the first South Asian women in the U.S." panel at History From Different Angles symposium|date=February 23, 2019|type=Video|publisher=South Asian American Digital Archive|place=University of California, Los Angeles}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rudra |first=Geetika |title=Here to Stay: Uncovering South Asian American History |date=March 31, 2022 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0813584034 |pages=94, 153–159}}</ref> She was also the subject of feminist and children's literature, and a t-shirt.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Rozella |url= |title=Our Brave Foremothers: Celebrating 100 Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous Women Who Changed the Course of History |date=2023-04-11 |publisher=Workman Publishing Company |isbn=978-1-5235-2074-9 |pages=58–59 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |year=2024 |title="Coming Home" Unisex T-Shirt |url=https://spotlight.saada.org/products/coming-home-unisex-t-shirt |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=SAADA Spotlight |publisher=South Asian American Digital Archive |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Coming Home: Kala Bagai Way |url=https://www.shurjomukhi.art/saada-coming-home |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=shurjo mukhi |language=en-US}}</ref>
Dasgupta reflected on her story and legacy:<ref name=":15" /><blockquote>"While the overwhelming majority of early South Asian immigrants were men, it is crucial to not ignore the experiences of women…She was financially secure at a time when most immigrants from British India tended to come from straitened circumstances…[and yet faced] her fair share of tragedy: her first husband, Vaishno Das Bagai, committed suicide and two of her sons, Brij and Madan, predeceased her…Kala Bagai overcame personal grief and racial discrimination to create for herself a life of dignity and joy. Moreover, in providing service to others in her community and beyond, she also demonstrated how one could lead a full life."</blockquote>
=== Kala Bagai Way in Berkeley, California ===
The city of Berkeley, California named a downtown street after Kala Bagai in 2021, as part of the reconfiguration of Shattuck Avenue.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Orenstein|first=Natalie|date=December 13, 2019|title=Southbound Shattuck in downtown to become 2-way street next week|work=Berkeleyside|url=https://www.berkeleyside.com/2019/12/13/southbound-shattuck-in-downtown-berkeley-to-become-2-way-street-next-week|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2021-02-01|title=Shattuck Renamed to Kala Bagai Way|url=https://www.downtownberkeley.com/kalabagai/|access-date=2021-02-12|website=Downtown Berkeley|publisher=Downtown Berkeley Association|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Robert E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yrFd0AEACAAJ&q=Berkeley+Walks |title=Berkeley Walks |last2=Byron |first2=Janet |date=2023 |publisher=Heyday |isbn=978-1597146111 |edition=Revised and Updated |location=Berkeley, California |publication-date=2023 |pages=38 |language=en}}</ref> The two block stretch known formerly as "Shattuck Avenue East" was renamed "Kala Bagai Way" after a year of community activism in support, in recognition of both her activism and her racist exclusion from the city a century earlier.<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kala Bagai Way |url=https://www.kalabagaiway.org/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Rajghatta|first=Chidanand|date=Sep 18, 2020|title=Berkeley honors Kala Bagai amid hosannas for Kamala Harris|work=The Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/berkeley-honors-kala-bagai-amid-hosannas-for-kamala-harris/articleshow/78192353.cms|access-date=2021-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Dinkelspiel|first=Frances|author-link=Frances Dinkelspiel |date=July 22, 2020|title=Racist neighbors pushed this South Asian woman out of her home. Now Berkeley is poised to name a street after her.|work=Berkeleyside|url=https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/07/22/berkeley-ca-racism-housing-discrimination-south-asian|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Sohrabji|first=Sunita|date=Sep 18, 2020|title=Berkeley, California, Street Named for Pioneering Indian American Woman Kala Bagai|work=India-West|url=https://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/berkeley-california-street-named-for-pioneering-indian-american-woman-kala-bagai/article_2578d426-f97c-11ea-a838-b39f7e37d5fd.html|access-date=|archive-date=December 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218070507/https://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/berkeley-california-street-named-for-pioneering-indian-american-woman-kala-bagai/article_2578d426-f97c-11ea-a838-b39f7e37d5fd.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Magalong |first=Michelle |date=March 5, 2020 |title=APIAHIP Letter to Mayor Jesse Arreguin |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/651712d02a8e797db3a97266/t/664cd30e438b5643aefe9a3a/1716310798994/APIAHiP%2B-%2BLetter%2Bof%2BSupport%2B-%2BKala%2BBagai%2BWay.pdf |website=Asian & Pacific Islanders in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP)}}</ref> It was the first street in the city named after an Asian American.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=16 September 2020|title=Berkeley Renames Downtown Street 'Kala Bagai Way' After South Asian Immigrant Activist|url=https://www.kqed.org/news/11837958/berkeley-renames-downtown-street-kala-bagai-way-after-south-asian-immigrant-activist|access-date=2021-02-11|website=KQED|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Pokotylo|first=Katia|date=2021-02-12|title=Downtown Berkeley street renamed after South Asian immigrant Kala Bagai|url=https://www.dailycal.org/2021/02/11/downtown-berkeley-street-renamed-after-south-asian-immigrant-kala-bagai/|access-date=2021-02-12|website=The Daily Californian|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Arreguin|first=Jesse|date=February 11, 2021|title=Berkeley Recognizes Immigrant Activist Kala Bagai in Street Renaming Ceremony|url=https://www.jessearreguin.com/press-releases/2021/2/24/berkeley-recognizes-immigrant-activist-kala-bagai-in-street-renaming-ceremony|website=Mayor Jesse Arreguin}}</ref>
== See also == * Racial classification of Indian Americans * Kartar Dhillon * Anandi Gopal Joshi * Pandita Ramabai
== References == <references />
== External links == * [https://www.saada.org/browse/subject/kala-bagai Kala Bagai materials on the South Asian American Digital Archive] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGbTCi8vuwI "Kala Bagai" video by Timeline]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagai, Kala}} Category:1893 births Category:1983 deaths Category:American immigrant rights activists Category:American people of Pakistani descent Category:American people of Punjabi descent Category:History of Berkeley, California Category:Indian expatriates in the United States Category:Activists from Los Angeles Category:Activists from San Francisco Category:Indian activists Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:People from Amritsar Category:Punjabi women Category:Punjabi Sikhs Category:American Sikhs Category:Indian Sikhs Category:Emigrants from British India to the United States Category:American activists of Asian descent