History rarely heard
Internationally recognized museum preserves broadcasting artifacts
May 31, 2015
The Pavek museum opened in 1988, around the time the internet was invented, and continues to draw visitors to its pre-internet artifacts despite the everyday technological advancements according to Daniel Henry, the museum’s audio and video coordinator.
Henry said the museum began with Joe Pavek’s collection and has since grown in size over the years.
He said the collection has branched off from the original collection of radios and it now collects televisions, telephones and many other kinds of artifacts that contain some aspect of broadcasting.
“Pavek was passionate about radio,” Henry said. “He was a HAM (Hertz Armstrong Marconi) radio operator and a collector of battery-powered early radios from the 1920s.”
Henry said the collection has become more nebulous, collecting donations from the public and from other collections, expanding on the original radio artifacts.
According to Henry, the museum has attracted around 100,000 students since its inception.
Sophomore Mitch Jones visited the museum when he was younger and said he thought the it was interesting.
“It was cool. There was so much stuff in there,” Jones said. “When I went there I learned about old radios.”
Sophomore Navi Ojigho said he has not visited the museum yet but thinks it would be interesting to see what old radios looked like compared to radios now.
“It would be cool to see what people used back in the day to broadcast,” Ojigho said.
Henry said the uniqueness of the museum is one reason people are drawn to it. It is one of a few museums in the nation preserving old broadcasting equipment.
“I think what brings them in is either nostalgia, science, history or curiosity,” Henry said.
According to Henry, the museum has tours that include interactive aspects allowing people to broadcast themselves on a radio and television inside the museum.
This coming fall, the museum will induct nine individuals into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame, according to Henry.
“(It) is a way for us to honor the men and women of the broadcast industry,” Henry said. “It is now above 160 members.”
Henry said the museum inducts the individuals based on their significant contributions to the broadcasting industry.
For more information about the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame or about the museum itself, visit http://www.museumofbroadcasting.org/.
