October 20, 2005

Wayne State's Merrill-Palmer Institute to host lecture on Detroit's freight car manufacturing history

Who: Merrill-Palmer Institute’s Friends of Freer House at Wayne State University   

What: Detroit : Freight Cars Before Automobiles,” a new book and lecture by J. Douglas Peters

Where: 71 East Ferry Street in Detroit  

When:  Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005, tour of Freer House 6 p.m./Lecture and light refreshments 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP by Nov. 8, 2005 at (313) 872-1790/ ac6500@wayne.edu  

       Before the automobile, came the railroad, before Ford and the Dodge Brothers came Charles Lang Freer and Frank J. Hecker, and before Detroit became the nation\'s auto capital, it was the freight car manufacturing center of America.  

       This powerhouse industry at the end of the 19th century was built by the extraordinary talents of Freer and Hecker, men whose vision and business acumen left an indelible mark on the economic, civic and cultural life of both Detroit and the nation. 

      The Friends of Freer House is proud to present a very special evening with J. Douglas Peters, co-author of a new book on the history of the railroad freight car manufacturing company formed by Freer and Hecker in Detroit in the late 1800s.      

       Peters is an attorney and shareholder with the law firm of Charfoos and Christensen and has the pleasure of working each day in the firm\'s offices located in the Hecker-Smiley Mansion on Woodward Ave.  

       Since 1919, Freer House has been the location of the Merrill-Palmer Institute. The Institute was founded by the will of Lizzie Pitts Merrill-Palmer to further the study of home life and family development.

 

 

 

 

Contact

Public Relations
Phone: (313) 577-2150
Email:

Subscribe to Today@Wayne

Direct to your inbox each week

Related articles