Drawn from first-hand experience, this essay recalls the radical spirit of James Cook University’s history department in the 1970s – an institution unafraid to challenge both imperial and Australian nationalist historiography, expose the violence of colonisation, and anchor scholarship in the realities of North Queensland’s history. I recall how students were drawn into the fight for Indigenous rights and land, inspired by figures such as Joe McGinness, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, and Koiki (Eddie) Mabo. The department thrived, producing original regional histories with implications for national perceptions and debates on Australia’s past, which via its publication program had a wide readership. But political indifference, financial mismanagement, and the rise of market ideology steadily undermined its work. The decline was not abstract; it was something I saw unfold – misguided leadership, squandered resources, and the slow suffocation of the humanities. Yet it’s a story that ends with cautious hope: a new generation of scholars are committed to reviving the study of the north’s past, working to share their findings with the wider public as well as their academic peers.