WHEN WE WERE NORMAL
A Historical Augmented Reality Walking Tour
Harry Percival the Teacher, Doctor, and Bugler
LOCATION: LANDING BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND FLOORS ON THE QUAD
FACING STAIRCASE
Harold Percival was a popular professor at the State Normal School known for “his composure, his broad-mindedness, his congeniality and fine sense of humor” not to mention his collection of Indian relics and art.
Percival taught psychology at Fitchburg Normal School from 1928 up until his sudden death in 1955. He served as the Director of Graduate Studies for his last 18 years as a faculty member. Further, he was the first faculty member to hold a doctoral degree, an Ed.D. from Harvard University.
Percival was a well-traveled man. Born in Arkansas City, Kansas on May 30, 1895, Percival earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Kansas University and Ottawa University, respectively. Near the end of his graduate program, Percival was pulled from the classroom to the trenches of France. From April 1918 to June 1919 he was a Bugler for Company K, 353 Infantry.
Upon returning from France, Percival was determined to finish his studies and dive into the professional field of Psychology. For his Master’s thesis “A Study of High School Failures”, Percival endeavored to determine factors that contributed to high and low academic performance. He surveyed students and their parents on diverse metrics from their health, leisure activities, family dynamics, and study habits. Amongst his many findings, Percival determined that high performing students were much more likely to participate in school activities such as clubs and athletics. This finding likely motivated Percival to be as involved as he was in student life at the Fitchburg Normal School.
After completing his MA at Ottawa University, Percival taught history and mathematics in Kansas and in Phoenix, Arizona, tutored students in Michigan, and was principal of the Glenbrook School in Connecticut before coming to Harvard for his Ed.M. and becoming Master of Psychology at the Normal School in Fitchburg.
Percival’s training as an educational psychologist eventually led him to military service again during WWII. He was an Army Psychologist, Classification Officer, and Educational Officer in Massachusetts, California, and West Virginia. He died suddenly in 1955 at the Burbank Hospital in Fitchburg, leaving behind a legacy that grew into the current Psychology Department at Fitchburg State University. Percival is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.
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