By Mary Ann Porinchak
Executive Director, National Packard Museum
WARREN, Ohio – In 2024, the National Packard Museum welcomed more than 10,000 guests from 47 states and 16 countries across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
The museum also hosted guided tours, wedding receptions and corporate meetings.
Each encounter with a visitor was an opportunity to discuss the Packard Motor Car Co.’s influence on transportation history and ensure its legacy will endure.
The museum’s permanent collection continued to grow in the past year.
A collection of photographs, documents, catalogs, correspondence and scrapbooks compiled by the late E.T. “Tom” Fetch was donated by his great grandnephew.
Fetch was a Packard test driver and the first person to drive across the United States from San Francisco to New York. He completed the trek in 63 days in a 1903 Warren-built Model F, christened “Old Pacific.”
The collection, which includes notes from the driver and rare photos, has given the museum a more comprehensive understanding of Fletch’s achievement that will inform future programming and exhibits.
The museum mounted three exhibitions last year:
- The 24th annual motorcycle exhibit featured the Harley-Davidson brand and included 34 motorcycles.
- The touch-screen Lincoln Highway exhibit featured an interactive map and facts about the construction of the first transcontinental roadway.
- The 1949 Packard Golden Anniversary exhibit took riders back in time to 1949 via an in-dash audio-visual presentation.
This January, the museum installed its 25th annual motorcycle exhibit, a retrospective featuring the best models displayed over the past quarter century.
With outreach as part of its mission, last year the museum presented six different educational programs, both in-house and out-of-state.
In Salado, Texas, the museum presented the story of Jesse Vincent, Packard’s master motor builder, and a brief introduction to Tom Fetch. At the Packard’s International Meet, it presented a program about the museum and Trumbull County to encourage Packard owners to visit.
Preserving and protecting the museum’s important collection is a key component of its mission.
Thanks to donations to our Campaign for the Conservation and Preservation of the Historic Motor Vehicle Collection, museum volunteers were able to dedicate over 3,000 hours maintaining our priceless Packard automobile collection – which includes a vehicle more than 122 years old. The collection has six classic Packards in running order and soon will have more.
Several building improvements were completed last year. The exterior was painted and landscaped, and a new electronic sign that promotes exhibits and events was installed on busy Mahoning Avenue.
All of these accomplishments were completed on a very modest $250,000 operating budget. That figure, however, does not reflect the true cost of operating the museum. After including the value of in-kind support and unpaid staffing, the true cost is more than double that figure.
We are truly blessed to have volunteer support that keeps this institution vibrant.
The museum, 1899 Mahoning Ave. in Warren, is a cultural and educational institution that also promotes the Mahoning Valley and Warren – the birthplace of Packard.