Hidden Women, A History of Europe, Celts, and Freedom

Join us on Friday morning when we are pleased to welcome once more Jacqueline Widmar Stewart. Jacqui will be discussing her new book: Hidden Women: A History of Europe, Celts and Freedom. New finds call for another look at women in European history. Ever more convincingly, buried treasures show that Europe’s ancient Celts valued females in ways that later empires did not.  Archaeology is uncovering vast differences between these family-centric populations and the Roman Empire that fueled its expansion by conquest, occupation and enslavement of Celtic peoples.  Over the past 2000 years, institutionalized sexism has carried Rome’s elitist male domination all the way to the present.

 Along with the riches that have been found in women’s burial chambers, excavations across the continent reveal a surprising consistency in technological capabilities, communication and trade networks of Iron Age Celts. Ancient tombs and treasure troves throughout Great Britain, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, and Slovenia give insights into a formerly vibrant culture that is no longer recognized.    

Hidden Women brings vantage views into this wealthy, productive, nature- loving, Iron Age civilization.

As author, mother, education advocate and perpetual scholar, Jacqui pursues a wide range of interests that draw her back to her family’s European homeland. Her use of a variety of lenses – law, literature, languages, art, architecture, archeology, and genetics – brings a clearer picture of an obscured past. Those who need to look behind the scene will love her books that explore the how and why.

  A native of Beverly Shores, Indiana, Jacqui completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and German from the University of Colorado and a Masters Degree in French from the University of Michigan.  Following her marriage to our Blair Stewart in 1970, both earned law degrees at Stanford. Jacqui’s European studies include a classics program in Athens, Greece, German language at the University of Bonn in Germany and Slovenian language at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. Their two children - Andy (also a previous speaker) and Julia - both completed Stanford graduate programs.

 Twenty years ago Jacqui helped found the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation and then ran the organization for ten years.  Since then she has written four books that focus on environmental triumphs:   The Glaciers’ Treasure Trove: A Field Guide to the Lake Michigan Riviera, Finding Slovenia:  A Guide to Old Europe’s New Country, Parks and Gardens in Greater Paris, and Champagne Regained.