FOREWORD

When we think of ‘treasure’ our minds conjure up visions of a pirate’s chest overspilling with precious jewels and gold and silver. But as Captain Jack Sparrow declares in Pirates of the Caribbean, ‘Not all treasure is gold and silver, mate.’ Treasures are also things that have special meaning for us, that evoke memories and enrich understanding. We value these highly, cherish them, protect and care for them. For many such treasures, value is not monetary but is contained in their significance to us as individuals.

Such is the case for the JCU Library’s 50 Treasures. The items may not have huge monetary value, but they have meaning for the donor, and entrusting them to JCU Library Special Collections has ensured their future. They are treasures due to their cultural significance for generations past, present, and future in telling the stories of north Queensland.

Significance is embodied in the items themselves, such as the printing of the first edition of the Croydon Miner on silk, or the detailed plans of the Customs House, or photographs of the construction of the Library on JCU’s Townsville Campus. Alternatively, value lies in the interpretation of items; their distinct and collective ability to unlock the past and reveal the explicit stories of early settlement, such as in the Hann Diary and the Cassady Notebook. The Hann Diary catalogues landscape resources — the minerals, soil, water, and the vegetation ready for use. The fragility of life and the tyranny of distance are spelt out clearly in the Cassady Notebook of family travels.

Some stories are less apparent. Implicit in the map of the Kennedy district is the story of landscape in a natural state — a landscape of stringy bark and bloodwood, coastal mangroves bounded by granite hills and areas of loamy soil. The map is the harbinger of settlement. While the identity of the artist of the Victorian Lady’s Sketchbook remains elusive, the botanical drawings and painted landscapes are exquisite and reflect the interests and sensibilities of 19th century travellers.

The impact of European settlement on Indigenous peoples is contained in the video of a lecture given by Eddie Koiki Mabo to students in 1982, considered nationally significant for its connection to the High Court of Australia’s decision to recognise native title. Willie Thaiday’s recollections of living under government regulations and of resistance to it during the 1957 Palm Island strike are contained in Under the Act. Fragments contains the reflections of Gerty Page, a domestic worker at Karoola Station, told from shards of glass and china found on the site of the station house. The Register of Pacific Islanders employed at Pioneer Mill documents poor wages, imprisonment, and the death of workers. They reveal our past, extend our understanding and inform our future.

On the 50th anniversary of the University, it is appropriate that JCU Library has chosen these 50 culturally significant treasures from the thousands of items in their care. The items on display are indeed treasures of infinite societal value.

Dr. Judith Jensen

Team Manager Arts (Visual and Performing) Townsville City Council