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Michael Hodder writes from Newark, New Jersey. He hitchhiked to Gethsemani to visit Merton, but had not cleared it before coming, so he was not allowed to visit him. Hodder was claiming conscientious objector (C.O.) status but was drafted for Vietnam. Merton wrote a letter on his behalf to his draft board. He seems to have been in contact with Tom Cornell from the Catholic Peace Fellowship. He was a member of Students for a Democratic Society (S.D.S.) in Newark.

Paula Hocks was later known as a photographer and book artist. At the time of correspondence with Merton, she had spent time interacting with the Trappist nuns at Redwoods Monastery and was on faculty at University of California at San Diego in La Jolla. Merton was encouraging her interest in sacred art. Before she had established herself as an artist, she had offered to do typing for Merton. She became Editor of a small poetry magazine at UCSD while teaching in the Philosophy Department. She would later move to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Merton writes to James Hoban in response to a question about the Catholic Church's position regarding modern war.

Fr. Marie-Joseph Hoat was a monk in Vietnam. His novices were reading «Seeds of Contemplation». He mentions the "dreadful war" in Vietnam.

Sr. Gabriel Mary Hoare is a Sister of Loretto, artist, and was a professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri at the time of correspondence with Merton. She now is on faculty at Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves, Missouri. She arranged to bring an exhibit of Merton's drawings, "Forty-Three Signatures", to Webster College in April of 1965.

Marie Hitchen writes from Wilmington, Delaware.

George Hitchcock was Editor of «Kayak», which Merton referred to as "one of the best poetry magazines in the country." Hitchcock contributed a few poems that were published in the third issue of «Monks Pond». He was referred to Merton by another correspondent of Merton's, Teo Savory. Hitchcock writes from San Francisco.

Glenn Hinson is a Baptist professor who was teaching at Southern Seminary in Louisville at the time of writing to Merton. In the early 1960's, he brought groups of Baptist students to visit Merton at Gethsemani. Later, Dom James Fox asked that Merton stop meeting with such groups because he would require more solitude to fully live the eremitical life. Now officially in retirement, he is a visiting professor at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky in Lexington, Lexington Theological Seminary, Bellarmine University and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Thelma Hinshaw writes to thank Merton for sending a signed copy of «New Seeds of Contemplation». She asks Merton to explain the use of the term "holy recollection", and Merton sends her his take on recollection. Hinshaw writes from Florence, Arizona.

Fr. Denis Hines, a Trappist priest, writes first from a hermitage in Sedona, Arizona. He mentions previously being at St. Benedicts Abbey in Snowmass, Colorado. Later, his card to Merton is addressed from Christ in the Desert Monastery in New Mexico. His hermitage at Sedona was getting shut down and he was looking for a new site. Merton informs him that he will not be allowed to establish a hermitage at Gethsemani at that time.

Gertrude Hindemith was the wife of Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), a modern violinist and composer. They were born and married in Germany but left after the Nazis rose to power. After spending a brief period in Switzerland, Paul took a job as professor at Yale from 1940 to 1953. In 1953, they moved to Zürich, Switzerland, where this correspondence begins (it seems they had corresponded before this time). Some letters are co-signed by Paul Hindemith.

James Hinchey was a novice at Gethsemani from February of 1958 to March of 1959. It seems he had started at St. Benedict's College in Atchison, Kansas, before entry at Gethsemani and returned there to complete his degree. He went on to study at Duquesne University and University of Wisconsin for graduate studies. He joined the Oratorians and was ordained a priest in 1976.

Sr. Elizabeth Hillman was a Cenacle Sister of the Convent of Our Lady of the Retreat in the Cenacle in Lancaster, Massachusetts. She had attended Columbia University but left to serve as a nurse in World War II in 1942 and joined the Cenacle Sisters on her return to the United States after the war. She mentions Ruth Boyer and her husband who were friends of Merton in their youth. She also notes her appreciation for his writing, but an uncertainty about whether either side of the war issue, "the hawks or doves", really have it figured out.

Harry Hill, Jr. was a bookseller from Los Angeles, California.

Fr. Hilarion was a Trappist monk of Spencer Abbey in Massachusetts.

Fr. Hidulphe was of the Priory of Sainte-Marie de la Bouenza-Madingou in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

Pat Hickman was Merton's girlfriend for a few months while he was a student at Columbia University in 1938. These letters were written during a week spend with Robert Lax in Olean, New York.

H. A. M. van der Heyden writes from Utrecht, the Netherlands on behalf of the publisher Uitgeverij Het Spectrum.

Geof Hewitt is a poet who, at the time of correspondence with Merton, was 24 and living in Iowa. Having begun writing as a teen, he had by 1968 founded a small specialty press, Kumquat Press. Merton publishes some of Hewitt's poems in the first issue of «Monks Pond». Hewitt would publish another of «Monks Pond»'s poets, Alfred Starr Hamilton. He now resides in Vermont and has published books of his poems and books on writing and teaching poetry. (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 362.)

Rabbi Abraham Heschel was born in Warsaw and later moved to Germany for his studies and to launch his teaching career, serving as successor to Martin Buber in Frankfort for a time. He was forced out of Germany in 1938 by the Nazis. After teaching at London and Cincinnati, he went to Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where he spent the rest of his career save a few stints as visiting chair at other universities. Heschel shared with Merton a way to both speak of God's majesty while remaining prophetic. Heschel wrote of many justice issues of the day in solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr., and with those opposing the Vietnam War. Merton initiates correspondence with Heschel in 1960. They discussed the Second Vatican Council's statement against war, Schema 13, part of which became «Gaudium et Spes», the "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World". Merton was also lending support to the Council's statement on interfaith dialog, which became «Nostra Aetate», the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions". When a compromise version of the statement came out that watered down the Jewish-Catholic dialog and had a condescending tone, Merton expressed his disappointment to Heschel and desire for greater unity, "This much I will say: my latent ambitions to be a true Jew under my Catholic skin will surely be realized if I continue to go through experiences like this, being spiritually slapped in the face by these blind and complacent people of whom I am nevertheless a 'collaborator'" (1964/09/09 letter from Merton to Heschel). (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 430 .)

Fr. Theodore M. Hesburgh was a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and served as president of Notre Dame University from 1952-1987. He served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1957 to 1972 and later chaired the commission. He was also active in opposition to the Vietnam War and support of the rights of immigrants to this country. Merton's letter is not extant, but he seems to write in relation to atomic weapons and Hesburgh's position as Vatican representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, a duty performed from 1956-1970.

Tove Hersing was a child psychologist and convert to Catholicism writing from Copenhagen, Denmark. She tried to arrange a Danish translation of «The New Man», which was not followed through.

Fr. Irenaeus Herscher was a Franciscan priest from St. Bonaventure College whom Merton knew from the library while teaching there. He is mentioned in The Seven Storey Mountain. Merton continued to request books from St. Bonaventure's library and to keep in contact with Herscher throughout his life at Gethsemani. (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 295.)

Pfc. José Herrera was with the United States military and on assignment in Tehran, Iran. His postcard seems to indicate he was a former novice at Gethsemani.

Fr. Vincentius Hermans was Procurator for the Cistercian Order and delegated by Abbot General Ignace Gillet to respond to Merton about some censorship issues.

Professor Jean Hering was Merton's tutor in French and German during a 1930 holiday to Strasbourg. Tom Izod Bennett, Merton's guardian in England after the death of his father, arranged this for Merton. (Source: «The Road to Joy», pp. 60-61.)

In 1967, while writing this letter to Merton, Rembert Herbert was nearing graduation at Amherst College in Massachusetts. He is currently a faculty member in the Department of English at Hunter College High School in New York. He has published a number of books on Gregorian chant.

Br. Alban Herberger was a monk of Gethsemani Abbey.

Nat Hentoff is a prolific writer on such issues as jazz, civil liberties, free speech and education. He had studied at Northeastern University and Harvard, and was a Fulbright fellow at the Sorbonne. After writing for many major media outlets, including «Commonweal» as a long time regular columnist for the «New York Times», he continues to write on music for the «Wall Street Journal» and has a weekly column in the «Village Voice». Merton thanks him for editing a book on the essays of A. J. Muste, and they discuss an essay by Hentoff on Lenny Bruce in a book called «Seeds of Liberation». (Source: "Nat Hentoff". «The Washington Post» online edition: 1998. ‹http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/opinions/hentoff.htm›, accessed 2005/03/29.)

Mother Mary Henry was of the Monastery of the Infant Jesus, cloistered Dominican nuns from Lufkin, Texas.

Aveen Henry was writing on behalf of «The Tablet» from London.

Dagmar Henne was with the German Department of the publisher Agence Hoffman and writes from Munich, Germany.

Ammon Hennacy writes as the Director of the Joseph Hill House of Hospitality and St. Joseph's Refuge. The house fed the hungry and commemorated Joe Hill, who was a labor leader accused of murder (some say framed) and executed by the state of Utah in 1915. Hennacy was a pacifist and advocate for prisoners on death row. He converted to Catholicism in 1952 and shortly after served as an associate editor in New York for the «Catholic Worker» until moving to Salt Lake City and founding Joseph Hill House in 1961. (Source: Thomas, Joan. "Ammon Hennacy: A Brief Biography". Catholic Worker Home Page: 1994. ‹http://www.catholicworker.com/ah_bio.htm›, accessed: 2005/03/25.)

Fr. Laurence E. Henderson was a Jesuit priest writing from Loyola University in Chicago.

Fr. Elmer J. Henderson was a Jesuit priest and Managing Editor of the quarterly review «Thought».

The sculptor Marc Hénard writes to Merton from Saint-Léger-Vauban, a town in Burgundy, France, which is also the home of the Benedictine Abbey of Pierre Qui Vire. He sends Merton some photographs of his work at Pierre Qui Vire and a photograph of a tower at the monastery at the request of Dom Angélico Surchamp, O.S.B., of La Pierre-qui-Vire Abbey. The material on sacred art is for "Art and Worship," an unpublished manuscript of a book Merton planned to publish on sacred art.

Dom Walter Helmstetter was abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of the Genesee in Piffard, New York from the late 1950's to the early 1960's. Later, he became a hermit and writes to Merton from Palestine, Texas.

Sr. Helene was a Carmelite nun.

Sr. Marie Helen was a Dominican sister of Corpus Christi Monastery in Bronx, New York.

Sr. Helen Marie was an exclaustrated Precious Blood Sister who, at the time of writing to Merton, had been accepted by both Kentucky religious communities of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Sisters of Loretto.

When first writing to Merton, Sven Heilo was a law student living in Lund, Sweden. He had been born in Illinois to Swedish-Lutheran parents in 1940 and moved with his family to Sweden seven years later. He converted to Catholicism in 1960. He was considering a religious vocation and writes about this and a trip to the United States in 1964. There are no extant letters from Heilo from this trip, but Merton makes some remarks about the culture and politics of America and the candidacy of Goldwater. In 1965, Heilo went to work for a customs port in Stockholm and later married.

John Heidbrink was a Presbyterian minister and activist for civil rights and peace. He writes to Merton after having been in touch with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. It was shortly after he came to Nyack, New York, in 1960 to work as Secretary for Church Relations for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). He was a friend of Jim Forest and Daniel and Philip Berrigan, all of whom worked to found the Catholic Peace Fellowship (CPF). With Daniel Berrigan he discussed Protestant expectations for the Second Vatican Council and attended the International Peace Conference in Prague in 1964 and other Christian/Marxist seminars in Europe. Heidbrink arranged for the landmark meeting of Merton and Thich Nhât Hanh at Gethsemani in 1966. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 401.)

The following year after writing to Merton, Terence Heelas began writing for «The Strategic Commentary». In this weekly periodical, he advocated that the United States could not win the Vietnam War; therefore, by simple military logic, should leave Vietnam. Heelas seems to have written Merton with some of his earlier ideas on strategic planning on November 27, 1964 (letter is not extant). Merton gives his opinion on such strategic arguments.

Gerald Heard (also writing under H. F. Heard or Henry Fitzgerald Heard) was an author born in England and a close friend of Aldous Huxley. His prolific writings range from academic works on the nature of human development and comparative religion to fantasy and mystery novels.

Dom Columban Hawkins was the first abbot of Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey in Lafayette, Oregon.

Jim Havel writes from Lawrence, Kansas.

Claude Haussoullier was a French instructor at University of Massachusetts in Amherst and had spent some time teaching in Vietnam. She writes to thank Merton for his letter to Thich Nhât Hanh.

Rosemary Haughton was a Catholic theologian and author. She was born in England, but lived in many places in Europe, and once in the United States, while young and now resides in the United States. She wrote books regarding Catholic culture, feminist spirituality, marriage and sexuality, and books for children.

Walter S. Hauck was a friend and distantly related in-law to Thomas and John Paul Merton. Walter Hauck's sister, Elsie, married Harold Jenkins, Thomas and John Paul Merton's uncle, in 1938. In his letter to John Paul, he refers to himself as "Unc" Walt. Thomas Merton corresponded with Walter Hauck's daughter Nancy Hauck Boettcher.

Freida "Nanny" Hauck was the mother of Elsie Hauck Holahan (later Jenkins). Elsie had moved in to the home of Merton's maternal grandparents, Samuel and "Mattie" Baldwin Jenkins, to take care of Tom and his younger brother John Paul Merton after the death of their mother Ruth Jenkins in 1921. (Elsie later married Merton's uncle, Harold Jenkins). Freida Hauck lived in Great Neck, New York.

Dorothy Hassler was Director of Membership for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and writes from Nyack, New York.

Alfred Hassler was Executive Secretary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and writes from Nyack, New York.

Lucile Hasley was a convert to Catholicism who published around twelve titles through Sheed and Ward, which were quite autobiographical in nature and featured themes concerning her conversion and about the Catholic Church. She wrote to Merton from South Bend, Indiana.

Sibyl Harton was an Anglican and an author writing from England. She had visited Gethsemani and met Merton in October of 1964.

Br. Patrick Hart was Merton's last secretary. In his earlier years at the monastery, he went by the religious name Br. Simon. He continued to foster Merton's legacy through the interviews he has conducted and through editing many of the collections of Merton's essays, journals, and correspondence.

Born in London, John Harris was best known as an Francophile author and later for his broadcast about life in France for the BBC. He began his working life as schoolteacher in language, first in Devonshire and later in Cornwall. He spent much time in France and wrote about French culture. (Source: "John P. Harris." Times Online Obituary: The Times [of London]. 26 Nov. 2003. Accessed 5 Oct. 2010. Bellarmine University Library. ‹http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1026218.ece›.))

Arthur Harris was the son of John Harris (see "Harris, John" file), who notes that Arthur was born in 1954 and had asked Merton for stamps in 1967. Merton sends him a couple letters and shipments of stamps from letters he had received from around the world. John Harris later notes in correspondence about his letters after Merton's death that Arthur had become a professional philatelist.

Fr. Bernard Haring writes from the Lateran Pontifical University in Rome.

Sr. Katherine T. Hargrove, also known as Mother Hargrove, was a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was editor of some books on Jewish-Christian relations. She writes from Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in Purchase, New York.

Fr. Franciscus Hardjawijata was Novice Master at the Trappist monastery at Rawaseneng, Indonesia.

Vincent Harding and his wife Rosemarie Freeney Harding were leaders in the Southern Freedom Movement during the Civil Rights struggle of the 1950's and 1960's. He has written a number of books, including «Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero», and served as a senior academic consultant to the highly-acclaimed Eyes on the Prize series on PBS. In 1997, he and Rosemarie Freeney Harding founded the Veterans of Hope project, which gathers the wisdom of elder pioneers in civil rights and social justice for future generations. Harding is Professor Emeritus of Religion and Social Transformation at Illiff School of Theology in Denver.

Patricia Hardesty was writing a piece for the «Saturday Evening Post» on Henry Miller. She writes from Mill Valley, California.

Fr. Deryck Hanshell was a Jesuit priest and sub-editor of «The Month», a magazine published by the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) in London. The editor was Fr. Philip George Caraman, another correspondent of Merton's.

Charles Hansel was Director of Religious Life at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky.

Monsignor James J. Hammon was Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Natchez, Mississippi.

Herman Hanekamp was born in Oldenburg, Germany in 1884. After immigration to the United States in 1904, not much is known other than a couple of years he spent as a cowboy in Texas before riding a horse to Gethsemani when he entered in 1912 (account by Raymond DeSutter [formerly Fr. M. Robert in religious life during his time at Gethsemani]. Hanekamp had taken simple vows but was dismissed in 1917. After leaving vowed religious life, he contnued to live near the monastery. Whether Hanekamp was officially given land that was later reaquired by the abbey is uncertain. He had a small dwelling and raised crops, goats, and pigs. He died in 1958.

Jim Hampton writes from the Bluegrass Bureau in Lexington, Kentucky, of the Louisville newspaper «The Courier-Journal».

Victor Hammer was an artist and typographer originally from Vienna. He moved to the United States as Hitler rose to power and took a position at Wells College in New York. In 1948, he retired from Wells College and became artist-in-residence at Transylvania College in Lexington, Kentucky. He brought a hand press he had used in Italy to Lexington and printed under his Italian imprint of Stamperia del Santuccio. The letters do not tell when the two first met, but by the first letter from Hammer in 1955, he states that he had been to Gethsemani and exchanged ideas with Merton already and was friends with Br. Giles. Merton also received permission to visit Victor and Carolyn Hammer in Lexington. On one trip in 1959, Merton saw a triptych painted by Victor. Hammer had intended to paint a Madonna and child but it did not turn out right. In the center panel, a woman crowns a child. Merton declared her to be "Hagia Sophia", the Holy Wisdom of God, which prompted Merton to write his poem "Hagia Sophia". (Source: «Witness to Freedom», p. 3.)

Veronica (Moni) Hammer was a daughter of Victor Hammer and writes from Vienna, Austria.

Carolyn Reading married Victor Hammer in 1955. The Hammers became good friends of Merton, who received permission to visit them in Lexington. Merton would later write to Carolyn to obtain books because of her position at the King Library at University of Kentucky. This was a bond that help University of Kentucky establish a small collection of Merton's papers.

Fr. Hamman was a Franciscan writing from Notre Dame des Buis in Besançon, France.

Alfred Starr Hamilton was a poet and contributor to «Monks Pond». In his biographical statement from «Monks Pond», he states that he had lived through the depression and spent a year in the army; since then, he became a socialist and lived on very little money as a poet.

The Honorable Shinzo Hamai was Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan.

Fr. Columba Halsey was a Benedictine monk of St. Maur's Priory in South Union, Kentucky. The monastery was unique in the United States as having been established as a racially integrated community when it was founded in 1947 on the grounds of a Shaker village.

Fr. Amédée Hallier was a Trappist monk of the Abbay of Notre-Dame de Grâce in Bricquebec, Normany, France. He wrote «Un éducateur monastique», a book about St. Aelred of Rievaulx. Merton wrote an introduction which was published in the English language edition. The book was published in English as «The Monastic Tehology of Aelred of Rievaulx».

Alfred B. Hailparn was a friend of Merton's while at Columbia University. Hailparn's father was a liquor distributor in Yonkers, to which Merton makes reference in the second letter. In 1936, Merton was the editor-in-chief of the Columbia yearbook, «Columbian», and Hailparn was managing editor. They were working on the yearbook for May of 1937. (Source: «Witness to Freedom», p. 156.)

Foster Hailey was a «New York Times» correspondent who spent much of the 1950's on assignment in the Middle East. It seems the two men were acquainted and corresponded prior to this 1961 letter and had last been in touch in the late 1950's.