Pavek Museum of Broadcasting

The Pavek Museum of Broadcasting is a museum in St. Louis Park, Minnesota (just west of Minneapolis) which has one of the world's most significant collections of vintage radio and television equipment. It originated in the collection of Joe Pavek, who began squirreling away unique radios while he was an instructor at Dunwoody Institute in 1946. Students of the day were given old radios to disassemble in order to learn their trade, and Pavek was concerned about what might be destroyed in the process.

History

Pavek's collection expanded through the 1970s, when he decided to start looking for someone to take over for him. However, he had trouble finding someone who would take the job and was about to sell off the collection at auction in 1984 when Earl Bakken stepped in. Bakken, the founder of Medtronic and the inventor of the first wearable pacemaker, had also spent many years fixing old radios and TVs, and shared Pavek's passion for vintage hardware. The two joined Paul Hedberg of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association in creating a non-profit organization that would be the new museum's parent. The Pavek Museum finally opened on October 29, 1988, a day that was honored with a proclamation by Governor Rudy Perpich as "Joe Pavek Day."

Joe Pavek died a year later in 1989, and Bakken stepped in to lead the organization. In 1990, the collection was greatly expanded with the addition of the collection of John T. "Jack" Mullin, an Army Signal Corps veteran of World War II who had brought some AEG Magnetophon tape recorders back to the United States from Germany. Mullin used them to record Bing Crosby's radio programs, the first use of magnetic tape in American broadcasting. Over the years, he acquired other recording devices and eventually amassed a world-renowned collection.

The museum has offered several educational courses since its founding, both for children and adults.

Hall of Fame inductees

Since 2001, the museum has been honoring legendary area broadcasters by inducting them into the Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

2001

2002

2003

2004

2006

References

External links

Pavek Museum of Broadcasting

v t e Museums in Minnesota
Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area	American Museum of Asmat Art American Swedish Institute The Bakken Bell Museum of Natural History Historic Fort Snelling Goldstein Museum of Design Hennepin History Museum James J. Hill House Oliver Kelley Farm Mill City Museum Minneapolis Institute of Art Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery Minnesota Center for Book Arts Minnesota Children's Museum Minnesota History Center Minnesota Museum of American Art Minnesota Streetcar Museum Minnesota Transportation Museum Museum of Lake Minnetonka The Museum of Russian Art Pavek Museum of Broadcasting Science Museum of Minnesota Somali Museum of Minnesota Twin City Model Railroad Museum Walker Art Center Weisman Art Museum
Duluth	Glensheen Historic Estate Great Lakes Aquarium Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center Lake Superior Railroad Museum Tweed Museum of Art William A. Irvin Floating Ship Museum
Elsewhere	3M Museum (Two Harbors) Cross River Heritage Center (Schroeder) Greyhound Bus Museum (Hibbing) Hjemkomst Center (Moorhead) Mille Lacs Indian Museum (Onamia) Minnesota Marine Art Museum (Winona) Minnesota Military Museum (Fort Ripley) Minnesota Music Hall of Fame (New Ulm) North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum (Tofte) Rourke Art Museum (Moorhead) Spam Museum (Austin) Two Harbors Light (Two Harbors) United States Hockey Hall of Fame (Eveleth)