Kala Bagai Way is, as far as we know, the first street in the United States named after a historic early South Asian American. It is also the first street in the city of Berkeley, California named after an Asian American.
Asian American renaming efforts in Berkeley, California
In 2022, Berkeley community members campaigned to rename Washington Elementary School “Yuri Kochiyama Elementary,” to honor the Asian American activist, and complementing Malcolm X Elementary, named after Kochiyama’s friend and collaborator. The name made it to the final shortlist, but was pulled at the last minute by skittish officials.
South Asian street names around the United States
- Streets named after the earliest wave of South Asian Americans
- Kala Bagai Way, Berkeley, California
- Streets named after later (1960s-2020s) South Asian Americans
- Asif Rahman Way, Queens, New York
- Dharmacharya Seerattan Way, Queens, New York
- Dolma Naadhun Way in Queens, New York
- Fazlur Khan Way, Chicago, Illinois
- Kalpana Chawla Court, El Paso, Texas
- Kalpana Chawla Way, Queens, New York
- Marwah Square, Los Angeles, California
- Pandit Ramlall Way in Queens, New York
- Singhs Way, Yuba City
- Ramesh D. Kalicharran “Kali” Way, Queens, New York
- Ritawantee “Auntie Rita” Persaud Way, Queens, New York
- Salman Hamdani Way, Queens, New York
- Uma SenGupta Way, Queens, New York
- Streets named after South Asian visitors to the United States:
- Ambedkar Avenue, Little India, Jersey City, New Jersey
- Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Way, Queens, New York
- Swami Vivekananda Way, Chicago, Illinois
- Streets named after figures in South Asian history
- Allama Iqbal Avenue, in Queens, New York
- Gandhi Drive, Boulder, Colorado
- Gandhi Drive, Durham, North Carolina
- Gandhi Lane, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
- Gandhi Street, Davie, Florida
- Gandhi Street, Crawfordsville, Indiana
- Guru Nanak Way in Queens, New York
- Maharshi Dayananda Gurukula Way in Queens, New York
- Mahatma Gandhi District, Houston, Texas
- Mohammed Ali Jinnah Way, Chicago
- Sheikh Mujib Way, Chicago, Illinois
- Shri Guru Ravidass Marg in Queens, New York
- Tenzing Norgay Sherpa Way, in Queens, New York
- Streets named for local South Asian American neighborhoods and institutions
- Bangladesh Avenue, Jamaica, New York
- Bangladesh Street, Queens, New York
- Bangla Bazar Avenue, Bronx, New York
- Gurdwara Avenue, San Jose, California
- Gurdwara Road, Fremont, California
- Little Bangladesh Avenue, Queens, New York
Please let us know if you know of other names that should be on this list.