Daywatch: Kamala Harris has little-known childhood connection to Illinois

Good morning, Chicago.

Four former U.S. presidents have called Illinois home: Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, Ulysses S. Grant, and Abraham Lincoln. If presumptive Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is elected to the nation’s top office this November, her name would become the fifth on this list.

When Harris was just a toddler, her family moved to Champaign, where they lived for a year in the late 1960s. Her parents, fresh out of their Ph.D. programs, had both secured jobs at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It was in Champaign that Harris’ younger sister, Maya, was born.

Urbana resident Diane Gottheil, now 85, recalled fondly her friendship with Harris’ parents during their year in Illinois. Gottheil was finishing up her Ph.D. in political science when they joined the university’s community in 1966, bringing a 2-year-old Harris in tow.

Gottheil said that she viewed Harris’ mother Shyamala Gopalan as a major role model, admiring both her work as a medical researcher and her passion for civil rights.

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From center, Keila Rodriguez, 43, talks with her grandson Thiago Gonzalez, 5, both from Venezuela, outside a migrant shelter on North Ogden Avenue on July 29, 2024, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

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Signage explains property valuation in the office of the Cook County assessor on June 17, 2024. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
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The Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University.
Amy Lavalley / Post-Tribune

Valparaiso University’s Chapel of the Resurrection. (Amy Lavalley/Post-Tribune)

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Students enjoy the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Quad on April 11, 2023. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
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Chicago Cubs right fielder Cody Bellinger is congratulated by his teammates in the dugout after scoring a run in the 8th inning of a game against the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field in Chicago on June 18, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
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“‘The Bear?’” the customer asked. “What’s that?”

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Artist D. Lammie-Hanson poses for a portrait at her exhibition titled “Gilded Agility,” at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago on July 17, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)

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Korah Bass, from left, Bekah Lott, Mackenzie Newton, and Krystal Verdooren, all of Washington, D.C., fix their hydration packs in their backpacks after entering the main entrance on Ida B. Wells Drive at Lollapalooza in Chicago's Grant Park on Aug. 3, 2023.

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune

Korah Bass, from left, Bekah Lott, Mackenzie Newton, and Krystal Verdooren, all of Washington, D.C., fix their hydration packs in their backpacks after entering the main entrance on Ida B. Wells Drive at Lollapalooza in Chicago’s Grant Park on Aug. 3, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

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