Summary

This item is one of our 50 Treasures: Celebrating 50 years of James Cook University.

Dr. Claire Brennan answers the question 'Why is this significant?'

James Cook University has an astounding legacy of both writing the history of north Queensland and of making that history accessible to the general public. The Lectures on North Queensland History series is a keystone of the work undertaken by James Cook University Foundation Professor of History Brian Dalton.  Dalton produced and encouraged research in north Queensland history, and actively sought ways to publish the history of our region and place the University's academic research within the grasp of local residents.  Thanks to the work of the University Library's Special Collections and the development of NQHeritage, the series is now freely available in its entirety, fulfilling Dalton's vision.

The series is remarkable for its contributors and the freshness of its contents.  The first volume includes chapters by both Noel Loos (then a PhD student) and Henry Reynolds (a lecturer).  In his chapter Reynolds announces, 'It is no longer tenable to talk of the Australian frontier as being uniquely peaceful as some historians have done in the past,' marking a historical upheaval of national significance.  In that volume, other contributors also examined the history of race relations and the ethnic diversity found in northern Australia.  Contributions by Clive Moore (then a tutor), and Patricia Mercer (leaving to start her PhD in the States) are significant in the written history of Melanesian labourers in Australia.  Cathie May explores Queensland's Chinese history, Jean Farnfield the need to include the Torres Strait within the history of Queensland.  Other, more familiar, topics—including labour history, the World Wars, and the goldfields—were explored in the context of our region.

In his Foreword to Volume 3, Dalton points to the importance of writing the history of northern Queensland, and the contribution that history makes to the Australian story.  The volume (and the series) demonstrates the significance of our region's history and Dalton succeeded in his ambition of supporting the production of excellent regional histories, and of promoting their value to a national audience.  Within that Foreword Dalton also writes of the challenges when writing history in and of the north; he laments the remoteness of archival sources held in capital cities and the comparative smallness of the history department of James Cook University.  These challenges are still with us, but this lecture series demonstrates that they can be overcome.  Dalton's championing of interdisciplinarity, regionality, and accessibility make this volume (and the series as a whole) a treasure.