James Benjamin Parker
James Benjamin Parker | |
---|---|
Atlanta, Georgia, US | |
Died | April 13, 1907 | (aged 49)
Known for | intervening in the assassination of William McKinley |
Height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)[citation needed] |
James Benjamin Parker (July 31, 1857 – April 13, 1907)[1] was an African-American man most noted for attempting to stop Leon Czolgosz from assassinating President William McKinley.
Early life
Born in
McKinley assassination
Background
Parker had been laid off from his job at the Plaza Restaurant prior to 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.[5]
The recent assassinations of European leaders by anarchists, and often virulent denouncements of McKinley in the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst, combined to concern McKinley's private secretary George B. Cortelyou that there might be an attempt on the president's life. Cortelyou arranged for tight security after the president twice refused to cancel his appearance. A contingent of up to 75 City of Buffalo police and exposition security guards monitored the doors to the Hall of Music and patrolled the queue waiting to see the president. Persons who made it far enough to approach McKinley finally had to pass through a cordon of U.S. Army soldiers who had been instructed to quickly surround anyone who appeared suspicious. Since the Spanish–American War, the United States Secret Service had been protecting McKinley, and two special agents, backed by several Buffalo police detectives, stood near the president.[5][6]
Shooting
There was, at the time, a general rule that anyone approaching the president must do so with their hands open and empty. However, the heat of the day meant this custom was not being enforced as many people were carrying handkerchiefs with which to wipe away perspiration.
An unnamed witness cited in a Los Angeles Times story said that "with one quick shift of his clenched fist, he [Parker] knocked the pistol from the assassin's hand. With another, he spun the man around like a top and with a third, he broke Czolgosz's nose. A fourth split the assassin's lip and knocked out several teeth."[7]
In Parker's own account of the event, given in a newspaper interview a few days later, he said,
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't 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 caught the bullets in my body rather than the President should get them.
In a separate interview given to the
Aftermath
After the shooting, Parker was approached with several commercial offers, including from one company who wanted to sell his photograph. He refused, stating in a newspaper interview that "I do not think that the American people would like me to make capital out of the unfortunate circumstances. I am glad that I was able to be of service to the country."
Despite initial optimism that McKinley would recover, the president died about a week later of complications arising from his wound. Czolgosz was quickly tried and convicted in the Erie County Superior Court and, exactly 45 days after McKinley's death, executed, his body afterwards being dissolved in acid.[10] Parker was not called to testify, though his attempt to save the president was later lauded in a speech given by Booker T. Washington.[9] Preacher Lena Doolin Mason wrote a poem praising Parker for his 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.[11]
Later life
After the assassination, Parker left Buffalo, and after spending the Christmas holidays with his family in Atlanta,
In early 1907, Parker was in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he had been "roaming about as a vagrant for some time." He was arrested by local police and confined as a "lunatic."[20] "Friends" appeared to help Parker, who was released to their custody.[21]
They made their way to
Parker was only at the hospital for a short time; he died at 2:10 pm on April 13, 1907, the cause being given as
References
- ^ Certificate of Death number 40811 for 1907, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1967; Certificate Number Range: 038171-041450. Original data: Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
- ^ Weatherbe,Ch[arles] F. (1885) Weatherbe's Atlanta, Ga. Duplex City Directory, Dunlop & Cohen, Printers, Stationers and Engravers, p. 299
- ISBN 978-0307415226.
- ^ ISBN 978-0374707378.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-9634712-1-5.
- ^ "Images of President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition". University at Buffalo. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- ^ a b c Rasuli, Daryl. "James B. Parker Revisited". University at Buffalo. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- newspapers.com.
- ^ S2CID 161377807.
- ^ "The Execution of Leon Czolgosz". University at Buffalo. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- ^ Mason, Lena (1902). "A Negro Was In It". In Culp, Daniel Wallace (ed.). Twentieth Century Negro Literature. pp. 447–448.
- newspapers.com.
- newspapers.com.
- newspapers.com.
- newspapers.com.
- newspapers.com.
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- newspapers.com.
- ^ Danky, James P., editor, and Maureen E. Hady, assistant editor (1998) African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A Bibliography (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press),p. 138
- newspapers.com.
- newspapers.com.
- newspapers.com.
- ^ Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1967; Certificate Number Range: 038171-041450. Original data: Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
- newspapers.com.