Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California, on 20 October 1964. She lived in Berkeley on and off until the age of 12, when her family moved to Montreal, Canada. Ms. Harris returned to the United States after attending high school in Canada. She graduated from Howard University in Washington D.C. and from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
Attorney Harris was employed as an Alameda County prosecuting attorney before being elected San Francisco district attorney. She was then elected California attorney general. Kamala Harris was also elected as a California senator in the United States Congress.
Click on an image to view the full-size photograph. 
This is a view of a single-family house located at 1227 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. During 1970-1971 the house was extensively remodeled. The lower area was utilized as a site for a pre-school. Kamala Harris, her mother, Shyamala Gopalan (1938-2009), and her sister Maya resided in the upstairs living area.
Shyamala Gopalan came to the United States from India in 1960 to study for her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1963, she married Donald Harris, a fellow graduate student who was an immigrant from Jamaica. They separated when Kamala Harris was a young child.
THEN This photo, looking north, and taken in 1972, shows the west side of 1227 Bancroft Way. Kamala Harris can be seen at the front center, along with her grandfather, P.V. Gopalan, her mother Shyamala Gopalan, her grandmother Rajam Gopalan, and her sister, Maya.
NOW This is a current view of the scene in the above photo. The stairway goes to the upstairs apartment, within which the Harris family resided.
THEN: Kamala Harris, her sister Maya, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, as seen on Milvia Street in Berkeley. This photo is circa 1969.
NOW Here is a view of the same scene on Milvia Street taken during November 2020; the cross street is Berkeley Way.
Donald Harris is Kamala's father. This picture of Donald and Kamala Harris was taken in April 1965. Professor Harris is now 81 years old and has retired from his teaching position at Stanford University.
Shyamala and Kamala at 1227 Bancroft Way, Berkeley.
Here are Kamala and Maya Harris, as seen during Christmas 1968, in their 1227 Bancroft Way apartment.
Kamala Harris is being sworn in as the 49th vice-president during the Presidential inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, 20 January 2021.
This posting was updated on 25 August 2024.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.” Dorothea Lange
"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson "There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams
