The Merrill-Palmer Institute at Wayne State University is hosting a Michigan Historical Marker Dedication Ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Institute's Charles Lang Freer House on 71 East Ferry Street in Detroit.

The historical marker is recognizing both the Institute and the Charles Lang Freer House, which is home to Merrill-Palmer. Public Opening and Tours 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.; Marker Dedication 2 p.m.; "Charles Lang Freer and Detroit Art," a lecture by Dr. Thomas W. Brunk and reception with Light Hors D'Ouvers 4:30 - 7 p.m.

Visitors have the option to attend any of or all of the three events. The tour and marker dedication are free. The lecture is $50 per person, $35 of which is tax deductible. For more information contact Rose Foster at (313) 872-1790

"We are very appreciative and humbled by receiving a Michigan Historical Marker that acknowledges both the legacy of the home of Detroit industrialist Charles Lang Freer and the present day efforts of the Merrill-Palmer Institute in the area of child and family development," said MPI Director Geraldine Kearse Brookins.

Freer, a well-to-do Detroiter, made his fortune as a railroad-car manufacturer in the latter part of the 19th century and at the turn of the 20th century.

He was also an esteemed collector of Asian art and the paintings of James McNeill Whistler, including Whistler's famous London townhouse dining room known as the Peacock Room. Freer installed the Peacock Room in his Detroit mansion.

Freer's art collection eventually made its way from Detroit to Washington D.C. Freer donated his collection to the Smithsonian, launching its first museum for fine arts known as the Freer Gallery.

Freer died in 1919. A year after his death, Merrill-Palmer was founded in 1920 and took residence in the Freer House. In 1981, MPI was became part of Wayne State as a center for research and education in family and child development.