French, G.H. (George Hazen), 1841-1935

Professor French came to Carbondale, Illinois with his wife Hattie in August 11, 1877 and joined the faculty of Southern Illinois Normal University as assistant curator of the museum a year later. In 1879, he succeeded Cyrus Thomas, as curator of the museum and as a natural science teacher teaching natural history, botany, physiology and floriculture. Professor French rebuilt the museum collections after the first Old Main building burned in 1883.On June 10, 1913, he was appointed curator and superintendent of the greenhouse at the university. During this time he published a manual of the butterflies of the eastern United States, and a manual of dissection and histology, as well as a number of papers and articles. He was a nationally know entomologist; his articles and scrapbooks show that he had a special interest in pest control and the use of insecticides. After the death of his wife in 1919 he moved from Carbondale to Herrin in 1921 where he died at the age of 93, on January 2, 1935. In addition to his work he was a member of entomological societies of France, Belgium, Great Britain, and New York; the Southern Illinois Medical Association; and was an associate member of the Natural History Society of Lubeck, Germany, Academy of Science of Southern Illinois, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.