[1][2] On her father's side, she descended from Abraham Parker, who settled in America in 1644[2] and Richard Russell, treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

[11] Influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, she studied wood engraving and was commissioned in 1900 to prepare the cover plate for The History and Development of the American Cabinet Organ, shortly before her graduation.

[13] In the winter of 1902, while on vacation with her parents in Nassau, Parker met the father of one of her Bostonian friends, Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter, who was the Governor of the Bahamas.

After a whirlwind courtship,[10][14] twenty-eight-year-old Parker, married the widowed fifty-five-year-old governor on 25 August 1903, at a ceremony held at the Church of the Advent in Boston.

[18] When the couple arrived in Bridgetown, preparations were underway for the Tercentenary of Annexation of Barbados by the British Empire and Nelson Centenary celebrations.

[21] Finding inspiration in the tropical setting, Carter produced drawings, gouaches and watercolours, in an impressionist style, balancing light and movement with strong design elements.

[22] Her subjects depicted images of life in the busy port of Bridgetown, which she observed in her every day dealings, including scenes of the yacht club, the Chamberlain Bridge, and the Colonial Secretary's Office.

Basing her pavilion design on the historical dependence on cotton, sugar and rum and the modern development of tourism, she reproduced the Barbadian landscape in alcoves flanked with tropical orchids, palm trees, coral, conch shells, and images of blow fish and turtles.

On display were pottery and other handcrafted items from the Women's Self Help Association, as well as products like cane sugar, syrup, baskets and woven rush furniture.

[24] Carter continued to live in Barbados, traveling frequently to Boston and Palm Beach, and summering in Bar Harbor, Maine.