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Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, university professor, journalist, photographer, war-correspondent, historian, human rights advocate, expert on Southeast Asia, was twice nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 and again in 2000 for her work on behalf of the Hmong people of Laos. Her major book Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, The Americans, and The Secret Wars for Laos 1942-1992 (Indiana University Press) was published to acclaim and selected as a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in History.

 Dr. Jane and Tragic Mountains were honored at the National Press Club in Washington to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the publishing of this important work. She worked with Hmong American student organizations on university campuses across the country as this generation of Hmong Americans promoted awareness of Hmong history and of human rights violations against their relatives in Southeast Asia.

Her involvement with the Hmong began many years ago while she was a photo-journalist covering the Vietnam War. During that time, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Vietnam War and the winner of the Inland Daily Press Association’s Grand Prize Trophy for her frontline combat photography.  In 1969, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for a series on young soldiers and won the Inland Daily Press Association’s Grand Prize Trophy for her frontline coverage of the war in Vietnam.

In 1980, her article in Reader’s Digest broke the story of chemical and biological warfare in Laos. Her highly acclaimed Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret War for Laos, 1942-1992 was published in 1993 by the Indiana University Press. In 1998 and 2000, Hamilton-Merritt was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her tireless efforts on behalf of the Hmong people of Laos, U.S. allies in the Vietnam War who have since been largely forgotten.

More than a hundred individuals and organizations from several countries supported Hamilton-Merritt’s 1998 nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, including ten members of Congress and three former U.S. ambassadors. As Burke Marshall of Yale Law School wrote, “They (the Hmong) are a people who have been deeply damaged and wronged by history and by the actions of great nations…and for whom there is no compensation, no recourse except for the inexplicable intervention of the exceptional, virtually unique, voice and body of Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt.”

She has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and at Congressional Forums on chemical-biological warfare, genocide, refugee issues, and human rights violations by Asian governments. During the early 1980s, she worked as an Expert Consultant on Highland Lao Refugees to the U.S. State Department.

She is the author of seven books and hundreds of articles. She has written for the Washington Post, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Dayton Daily News, Bangkok Post, Reader’s Digest, Saturday Review, Vietnam Magazine, VVA Veteran, Stars and Stripes, Freedom Review, American Spectator, Asian Fortune, New Haven Register, American Llama Magazine, and the GALA Newsletter. She has appeared on numerous television specials, including an hour-long feature on Japanese national television. In addition, twice she presented her literary work at the Sun Valley Writers Conference at Sun Valley, Idaho. 

Her book, A Meditator's Diary, first published in London, has been translated into five languages, including Thai and Chinese. 

Other honors include: Yale-Mellon Visiting Faculty Fellow at Yale University, Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame and the Explorer’s Club, Outstanding Woman of Connecticut given by the U.N., Faculty Scholar Award at Southern Connecticut State University, Outstanding Alumnae at Ball State University, and numerous honors and awards given to her by the Hmong and Lao refugee communities in the U.S.

She continues her writing and photography while operating a llama farm in Connecticut.  She served on the Board of GALA (Greater Appalachian Llama and Alpaca Association) for seven years and as its President for three years. She currently serves as the Chair of GALA's Llama Promotion Committee which established June 21 as International Llama Appreciation Day. 

She and her family continue to run their Northern Indiana family farms.  Currently, she actively promotes protecting our farm land from development by encouraging farmers and land owners to donate land conservation easements on their land to land trusts, thus protecting them forever from development. She and her family have lead by example and donated conservation easements on their Indiana farm lands.

Dr. Jane founded and serves as President of SURVIVE, a not-for-profit organization, focused on assisting mountain minorities, educating the public about the history and culture of ethnic minority groups in geographically and/or economically isolated regions of the world. SURVIVE also supports expanding access to alternative resources and opportunities for these at-risk communities while helping preserve their unique cultures and histories.

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Tragic Mountains

Jane Hamilton-Merritt gives speech at Hmong General Vang Pao's Memorial Service in 2011