James Benjamin Parker

James Benjamin Parker (July 31, 1857 – April 13, 1907) was an African-American man best known for apprehending Leon Czolgosz after Czolgosz shot President William McKinley on September 6, 1901. After Czolgosz fired two shots from a concealed gun, Parker knocked him down before a third shot could be fired. Parker was initially applauded for his actions, though some witnesses minimized or omitted his role because of his race. After McKinley's assassination, Parker drifted around the United States before being committed to Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, where he died.

Early life James Benjamin Parker was born to enslaved parents on July 31, 1857, in Atlanta, Georgia. He worked various jobs, including as a newspaper salesman for the Southern Recorder and as a constable. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he was employed as a waiter, before returning to Atlanta, where he appears in city directories as a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service. He then moved to Saratoga, New York; New York City; and Buffalo, New York, where he took a job with a catering company at the Pan-American Exposition's Plaza Restaurant.

McKinley assassination

Background Parker had been laid off from his job at the Plaza Restaurant before September 6, 1901, and used that day to visit the Exposition's Hall of Music, where President William McKinley was receiving members of the public.

Shooting Parker, left, grabs Czolgosz in a drawing by T. Dart Walker depicting the shooting. There was a general rule that anyone approaching the president must do so with their hands open and empty. But the heat of the day meant this custom was not being enforced, as many people were carrying handkerchiefs with which to wipe away perspiration.

In Parker's own account, given in a newspaper interview a few days later, he said:

In an interview with the New York Journal, Parker said, "just think, Father Abe freed me, and now I saved his successor from death, provided that bullet he got into the president don't kill him."

Aftermath The headline of a story on Parker that ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer following the assassination: "Modest as Well as Fearless is the Negro Waiter Parker" After the shooting, Parker was praised in both black and white press stories for saving McKinley's life; the Washington Evening Star published the first photograph of him on September 11, describing him as six feet four inches tall, "peaceful" and "law-abiding" but known for bravery, and noting that a public fund had been organized in Washington for his benefit. For his efforts, he was honored with awards. Parker was even inducted into the all-white Don't Knock Society, a fraternal organization. Parker was not called to testify. Booker T. Washington later lauded his attempt to save McKinley in a speech. Preacher Lena Doolin Mason wrote a poem praising Parker's actions, "A Negro In It", casting him as the latest in a long line of African Americans who risked their lives in service to their country and admonishing white Americans to recognize that bravery with the cessation of lynchings.

Controversy Parker was never called to testify at Czolgosz's trial. He was accused by Secret Service members of making false claims. On September 27, he encountered Black supporters who supported his claims but he refused to publicly address the crowd.

Later life and death After the McKinley assassination, Parker left Buffalo, and after spending the Christmas holidays with his family in Atlanta, traveled through the United States giving lectures to enthusiastic crowds at such places as Nashville, Tennessee, Long Branch, New Jersey, Brooklyn, New York, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On September 6, 1902, the first anniversary of the shooting, Parker was the principal speaker at a memorial service at the People's AME Zion Church in Providence, Rhode Island. Although there was talk of Parker being appointed as a messenger to the United States Senate, nothing seems to have come of it, and he subsequently worked as a traveling salesman for the New York City based Gazetteer and Guide, an African-American interest magazine written for Pullman Porters and railroad and hotel employees. Details of his later activities were, for many years, unknown. "Friends" appeared to help Parker, who was released to their custody. They made their way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Parker was placed in a boardinghouse at 246 South 9th Street.

Parker later wrote to Mckinley's widow, Ida, asking for help. Ida, who was grateful to Parker, sent the letter to George Cortelyou and Parker was given permanent employment as a messenger at the United States Capitol and a house in Washington, D.C.. He died at 2:10 pm on April 13, 1907, with the cause given as myocarditis and nephritis as a contributory cause. As his body was not claimed for burial, it was sent to the "Anatomical Board", where it was eventually dissected by students of the Jefferson Medical College.

Legacy African Americans mourned McKinley's death but were proud of Parker's heroic actions and viewed his treatment as an injustice.

Portrayals in media Parker's actions are dramatized in Murder at the Fair (2006), an episode of the History Channel miniseries 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America. In season 7, episode 15, of the CBC Television period drama series Murdoch Mysteries, "The Spy Who Came Up to the Cold" (2014), a scene depicting McKinley's shooting has Parker beating Czolgosz.