Catalog Number

2021.18.1

Description

Metal trophy in the shape of a horse.  The name of the trophy is the "John S. Sweeney Memorial Trophy", awarded in the Detroit Horse Show to winners of the Corinthian Class.
Nameplates of various winners appear around the trophy base.  Including, in 1949, the name of Holland resident Marguerite Hummer Kirchen.   
The trophy was retired if a rider won it three years in a row.  Marguerite did just that in 1949 and the trophy was hers to keep.

History

Marguerite E. Hummer Kirchen was born in Holland, MI on 1-22-1888 to George P. Hummer (1856-1920) and Margaret Plugger (1860-1932). She married Charles Kirchen (1876-1951) in Grand Rapids, MI on 6-20-1912.

From 1921 to 1940 they lived in Holland, MI at 162 West 12th Street. By 1942 they had moved into their new home at 1081 Ottawa Beach Road in Park Township.

Gift of

Robert Fitzgerald, Jr. & Melinda Fitzgerald Bauman in loving memory of their mother Peggy Kirchen Fitzgerald