Description
Hassina and Deeptha
Leelarathna founded the first Sri Lankan newspaper in the United States. Founded in 1978,
the paper,
Sri Lankan Express, served as a voice for the Sri
Lankan diaspora, and reported on everything from the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka to
the issues being faced by the Sri Lankan communities in the U.S. Committed to serving their
community, the pair also hosted a weekly two-hour radio program in Sinhalese and English
titled
Tharanga. After Deeptha's death in 2006, Hassina
continued to run the newspaper until her death in 2021. The collection features color slides
of images from the Leelarathnas' personal lives, before and after the start of the
newspaper, as well as images documenting their travels and reporting in Sri Lanka from 1977
to 1988.
Background
Hassina Leelarathna was born June 22, 1948 in Colombo, Sri Lanka as Hassina Gnei Sourjah.
After graduating with her Bachelor's degree from the University of Peradeniya, Hassina
quickly began to turn heads in the world of journalism. Hassina worked her way up as a
female journalist during a time in which the field was very male-dominated. After she met
and began dating Dolamulla Gamage Deeptha Leelarathna, Deeptha was offered a fellowship at
Stanford University in 1976. The pair eventually got married and moved to Palo Alto,
California in the late 1970s. They later moved to the San Fernando Valley. Once in the U.S.,
Deeptha and Hassina started their newspaper, Sri Lankan
Express, as well as a bilingual radio program titled Tharanga. The newspaper is the first Sri Lankan newspaper in the United States,
and it reported on such important issues as the civil war in Sri Lanka and the 2004 tsunami
that impacted much of South and Southeast Asia. In addition to covering stories abroad, they
reported on issues in the U.S. on such topics as Sri Lankan gangs and corruption within the
Sri Lankan Consul General's Office in Los Angeles. On their radio broadcast, they featured
many famous Sri Lankan musicians, such as Nanda Malini and W.D. Amaradeva. Deeptha and
Hassina Leelarathna were dedicated to the Los Angeles Sri Lankan community, and worked
full-time jobs in addition to running these programs. Hassina most recently worked as a
financial analyst for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Restrictions
Copyright status for materials in this collection is unknown. Transmission or reproduction
of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair
use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain
cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility
for any use rests exclusively with the user. Copyright status for materials in this
collection is unknown.
Availability
This collection is open for research use.