A female French historian and her discoveries in Ireland will be explored today.

Janet Marquardt, the director of the center for humanities and a professor of art history, will present the life of Francoise Henry, a French historian and artist at 5 p.m. today in the Witters Conference Room, Room 4440 of Booth Library.

Marquardt said she first found interest in Henry after a trip to Ireland where she found the journals of Henry.

Marquardt said she discovered Henry’s journals while she was researching a larger series of books that included three volumes written by Henry.

“When I was in the archives in Dublin looking for correspondents between her and the editors of the series, I opened up many boxes and one of the things was a Manila envelope with these notebooks and no one had paid any attention to them,” Marquardt said.

Marquardt said Henry helped to change the idea of women during the period.

“If you think about a woman scholar who was foreign in the 1930s and 40s going to very remote places and hiring men, especially illiterate people, it was a struggle for her to assert her authority as a women,” Marquardt said. “They’ve never had a female boss, they weren’t used to seeing educated, professional women.”

Jeannie Ludlow, an assistant professor of English and the director of women’s studies, said she thinks Henry is a great example of women empowerment and is a good way to learn about women of the time period.

“I think this presentation will be less about the art of Ireland and more about (Henry’s) experiences as a women at the time,” Ludlow said. “Getting the men to listen to her and supervising male workers.”

Marquardt will be presenting the journals and pictures from the places talked about in the journal.

“One of the things that is kind of fun about these journals is her lamenting the troubles she has with her laborers and that contrast with her gorgeous description of the landscapes, weather, the animal life and her clear love of Irish country side,” Marquardt said.

Marquardt said Henry had to deal with many problems during her excavations.

“It is kind of an interesting back and forth of her complaining about how they sneak days off and how they don’t like the food or they don’t work well, and talking about seeing the seals and the bay,” Marquardt said.

Marquardt said she will also talk about Henry’s life.

“Her grandmother was a French art critic, so she grew up in a house full of art, she was friends with contemporary artist,” Marquardt said. “Her appreciation for very early Irish art was a very modern appreciation.”

Marquardt said Henry was also interested in the history of Ireland.

“She worked in museums and libraries on her manuscripts, she led excavations to find objects in remote sites, one of which was the spot where the journals were written that I edited,” Marquardt said. “She seemed to really like the outdoors and was very adventurous.”

Ludlow said this is a great example of women history.

“Our theme is “Women Imagine Change” and this woman lived change, and that is pretty wonderful,” Ludlow said.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.