5 x 7 in. printed card (light toning, occasional spots, light chipping to margins). With a portrait of Parker and the caption, "This is the negro waiter who was the first to seize the assassin Czolgosz after the President had been shot. Parker reaped a snug fortune by selling the buttons from his clothing as souvenirs."

Parker was the son of formerly enslaved people and had worked several different jobs in Chicago, Atlanta, and various cities throughout New York. On 6 September 1901, President McKinley was receiving visitors at the Pan-American Exposition's Hall of Music in Buffalo, NY. Although it was typical practice to approach the President with hands open and empty, the policy was not being heavily enforced on the day as most people carried handkerchiefs due to excessive heat. Leon Czolgosz used his own handkerchief to conceal a pistol and shot McKinley at point-blank range. Parker recounted the affair in an interview: "I heard the shots. I did what every citizen of this country should have done. I am told that I broke his nose - I wish it had been his neck. I am sorry I did not see him four seconds before. I don'ts say that I would have thrown myself before the bullets. but I do say that the life of the head of this country is worth more than that of an ordinary citizen and I should have the caught the bullets in my body rather than the President should get them." Although McKinley's recovery initially seemed promising, he perished from his wounds a week later. He was lauded by Booker T. Washington and traveled through the country giving lectures.