SHOWCASING 75 YEARS
OF THE
KLUSSENDORF AWARD
1937
2012
The National Dairy Shrine Museum and the Hoard Historical Museum in Fort Atkinson, Wis., are pleased to feature an exhibit celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Klussendorf Trophy. Opening the week of Tuesday, September 18, 2012, the exhibit will run through the end of October, centered around World Dairy Expo.
W
HAT began as an effort to memorialize a great man following his untimely death has now transpired into one of the greatest show ring and, for that matter, dairy traditions in North America. Like many great ideas, the Klussendorf Trophy took shape during a conversation among a group of good friends.
THE ORIGINAL KLUSSENDORF COMMITTEE included (L to R) Harry Strohmeyer,Jr., Earle B. Hopper, D.V.M., and Gordon Hall.
THAT initial conversation took place during a dinner in Cairo, N.Y. However, this was no ordinary dinner; Harry Strohmeyer, Earl Hopper, D.V.M., and Gordon Hall were brought together because of the funeral for their good friend Arthur Klussendorf. During the meal, Strohmeyer suggested there should be some kind of memorial trophy to commemorate the sterling qualities Art had always exhibited in the show ring and throughout his life. The three decided to create a committee to further explore the idea during the remainder of 1936. They held numerous meetings to work out the exact method by which the candidates for the award would be selected, the nature of the trophy and the wording to be used. The committee drafted a notice for the various breed magazines describing the project and telling them where contributions should be sent. The notice was published in all the dairy breed publications and in Hoard’s Dairyman. They also made a list of breeders’ names — those who they thought might be interested in supporting the effort — they divided the list up and the committee wrote to the various breeders whom they knew best. The response was most encouraging considering the financial condition since it was in the heart of the Great Depression. The trio put out proposals for a trophy to many companies. The committee selected the famous Tiffany and Company of New York, N.Y., to make the trophy as the design they submitted was in the best taste. A WISCONSIN BOY Art Klussendorf was one of four brothers who grew up in downtown Milwaukee. Their father died at an early age leaving the young boys to find work at the Rust Brothers Farm near West Allis. At that time, the Rusts were progressive Holstein breeders. In 1910, Art graduated from the Wisconsin Farm and Industry Short Course. After that, he worked for several prominent dairy cattle breeders in Wisconsin. Art’s chief success was in the fitting and showing of the herds for other exhibitors. His ability as a judge and a showman who could always present the most desirable view to the official judge was so widely recognized and appreciated that his services were in demand nationally. In 1936, Art’s untimely death occurred due to a strep throat infection. “Words like gentleman and stockman (cowman) would truly describe him,” noted the late Gordon Hall of Princeton, N.J. “With a quiet, unassuming, pleasant manner, a profound liking for and knowledge of livestock and tireless effort, he made himself respected by all who knew him and a leader in the dairy industry. “To those of this generation who knew him and were helped by him, his sportsmanship, endeavor and ability causes us to revere his memory and trust that succeeding generations of stockman may follow in Art Klussendorf’s footsteps,” said Hall in an article published at the time the Klussendorf trophy was first awarded, in 1937.
A GENTLEMAN AND A STOCKMAN are the words used to describe Arthur Klussendorf. Above he is holding Mary Lillian, the Grand Champion cow at the 1935 National Dairy Show.