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The Quanah Parker Family Collection was assembled by Elsie Hamill through her interest in Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker, and her friendship with Wanada Parker Page, daughter of Quanah Parker. This collection contains correspondence, literary productions, photographic materials, and artifacts relating to the Comanche and Parker family.

Elsie Hamill became interested in the Parker family story in 1951. At that time she was a schoolteacher in Ross Elementary School, Mexia, Texas, and taught Tommy Parker, a member of the Parker family. Through him, Elsie Hamill was introduced to his aunt Wanada Parker Page, a daughter of Quanah Parker. The two women became good friends, each making trips to view Parker-related sites near each other's homes. Their correspondence is preserved within this collection.

Wanada and Elsie also contacted other Parker family members, and eventually arranged for the first ever combined reunion between both branches of the Parker family, American Indian and white. This reunion took place at Old Fort Parker in 1953, and was enjoyed so much by both sides of the family that it became an annual event, alternating between an Oklahoma site and the Fort Parker site in Central Texas. The Parker family still holds an annual reunion today, biannually held at Fort Parker State Park and Old Fort Parker. Many photographs, documents, and literary productions within this collection relate to organizing that first Parker family reunion in 1953.

The Parker family came to Texas from Illinois in 1833, and settled north of Groesbeck in 1835. Other family members, notably Daniel Parker, also came to Texas, and were heavily involved in planting Baptist Churches across Texas. There are several photographs in this collection of the Parker family revisiting the site of one church started by Daniel Parker.

The small group built a fort for defense in case of Indian attacks, and concentrated on farming. On 1836 May 19 the fort was attacked by an Indian force of several hundred warriors, long understood by eyewitnesses to be Comanche Indians. Several Parker family members were killed and others were captured, but many escaped.

The few who were captured endured the loss of everything they knew. Different captives had different experiences. Eventually all of the captives were released and went back to their family in Texan society, but one girl, Cynthia Ann Parker, remained behind.

Cynthia Ann Parker, just twelve or thirteen when taken captive, was adopted into the tribe and became thoroughly Comanche. She married warrior Peta Nocona, who might have taken part in the attack on the Parker's fort. Cynthia and Peta had three children together, two boys and a girl, Quanah, Pecos, and Topsannah. Peta Nocona was killed in the Battle of the Pease River in 1860. Cynthia Ann was recaptured by Texas Rangers in this battle, and was identified as the Parker's Cynthia Ann, who had been with the Comanche for almost twenty-five years. Though she was returned to Texan society, Cynthia Ann never recovered from her capture and made several attempts to escape back to her life on the plains. She died in 1870, widely understood to have passed away from a broken heart. She was buried in Fosterville Cemetery, Anderson County, but was reinterred in the Post Oak Mission Cemetery near Cache, Oklahoma, in 1910. Cynthia Ann was reburied a final time in 1957 in the Fort Sill Post Cemetery, Lawton, Oklahoma.

Cynthia Ann's son Quanah Parker, not captured at the Battle of the Pease River, became the last major Comanche chief to surrender to United States authorities. A warrior in the Quahada subtribe of the Comanche, Quanah surrendered with what remained of his people in 1875. He adjusted to reservation life easily, and became a very wealthy man considering the circumstances he and his people were in. Though increasingly powerful in Indian-government relations, he could not stop the movement to break up the reservations and distribute the land among the individual Indians, who were then forced to sell much of their land by unscrupulous land dealers. Quanah continued his efforts to help his people however he could. After a visit to the Cheyenne Reservation, Quanah became ill and died twelve days later, in 1911. His remains have been moved once, from Post Oak Mission Cemetery in Oklahoma to Fort Sill Post Cemetery, Lawton, Oklahoma.

The fort the Parkers built in 1835 was destroyed by the Indian raiding party. In the 1930s, the site was selected as a work area for the Civilian Conservation Corps, along with another nearby site along the Navasota River. A replica fort was built on the fort site, while a 670 acre lake was built on the river, together with camping and outdoor recreational facilities. Both sites took the name Fort Parker, both were operated after being built by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and for a time they were complexed together for more efficient operation by the department. Over time, locals began referring to the fort site as Old Fort Parker, and the lake site as Fort Parker State Park. The replica fort at the Old Fort site was rebuilt in 1967. Today, the Old Fort is operated jointly by the nearby cities of Groesbeck, Mexia, and Limestone County. Fort Parker State Park continues to operate as a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department site. Because of the close connection between both Fort Parkers, there is a limited amount of Fort Parker State Park materials within this collection.