Percy Jewett Burrell ((1877-02-10)February 10, 1877 â€"
(1964-03-22)March 22, 1964) was an American author and director of
historical and civic pageants. Known for his skills in oratory and
elocution, he also taught public speaking and drama, and was known as
a "public reciter." A native and lifelong resident of the greater
Boston area, he was described by Time magazine as a "professional
director of civic and patriotic shows." By the mid-1920s, Burrell had
developed a nationwide reputation for his work, having had 75,000
participants in his productions, which had collectively been performed
in front of over 900,000 people. According to a printed program used
at a service in his memory, "His mastery of the spoken and written
word led him to be a well known public speaker with an enviable
reputation as a teacher of oratory, and later as an author and
director of national distinction." Burrell served as the first supreme
historian of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity from 1901 to 1903, and
the sixth supreme (national) president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
fraternity from 1907 to 1914, and along with fraternity founder Ossian
E. Mills has been credited by fraternity historians with encouraging
the early expansion of and formulating the basic ideals espoused by
the fraternity. Much of this fundamental philosophy is encapsulated in
his presidential messages expounding the fraternity's Object, which
appeared in the Sinfonia Yearbooks between 1908 and 1910. Today, these
writings are regularly used to instruct the fraternity's probationary
members about the fraternity's Object, and the obligations and
expectations of fraternity membership.Born to Joseph and Alice Burrell
of the Beacon Hill area of Boston on February 10, 1877, Percy Burrell
attended the Phillips Grammar School in Boston, from which he
graduated in 1891, and the English High School of Boston, from which
he graduated in 1894.He studied oratory at the New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston, graduating with a Diploma in
Elocution in 1896. He later received the post-graduate degree of
Bachelor of Oratory (B.O.) from Boston University, where he later took
coursework in Methodist theology, and was initiated into Boston
University's chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.Burrell maintained a
connection to the New England Conservatory for many years. He was
called upon to serve as commencement speaker at the Conservatory in
1908, and was published several times in the New England Conservatory
Quarterly. His writings at that time advocated the teaching of oratory
in the public schools. In 1897, he had published a sixteen-page work
entitled Oratory in the Public Schools. As of 1910, Burrell was
serving as a trustee of the conservatory. As of 1951, Burrell was
serving as an associate editor of Alumni Opus, a publication of the
New England Conservatory Alumni Association.
(1964-03-22)March 22, 1964) was an American author and director of
historical and civic pageants. Known for his skills in oratory and
elocution, he also taught public speaking and drama, and was known as
a "public reciter." A native and lifelong resident of the greater
Boston area, he was described by Time magazine as a "professional
director of civic and patriotic shows." By the mid-1920s, Burrell had
developed a nationwide reputation for his work, having had 75,000
participants in his productions, which had collectively been performed
in front of over 900,000 people. According to a printed program used
at a service in his memory, "His mastery of the spoken and written
word led him to be a well known public speaker with an enviable
reputation as a teacher of oratory, and later as an author and
director of national distinction." Burrell served as the first supreme
historian of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity from 1901 to 1903, and
the sixth supreme (national) president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
fraternity from 1907 to 1914, and along with fraternity founder Ossian
E. Mills has been credited by fraternity historians with encouraging
the early expansion of and formulating the basic ideals espoused by
the fraternity. Much of this fundamental philosophy is encapsulated in
his presidential messages expounding the fraternity's Object, which
appeared in the Sinfonia Yearbooks between 1908 and 1910. Today, these
writings are regularly used to instruct the fraternity's probationary
members about the fraternity's Object, and the obligations and
expectations of fraternity membership.Born to Joseph and Alice Burrell
of the Beacon Hill area of Boston on February 10, 1877, Percy Burrell
attended the Phillips Grammar School in Boston, from which he
graduated in 1891, and the English High School of Boston, from which
he graduated in 1894.He studied oratory at the New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston, graduating with a Diploma in
Elocution in 1896. He later received the post-graduate degree of
Bachelor of Oratory (B.O.) from Boston University, where he later took
coursework in Methodist theology, and was initiated into Boston
University's chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.Burrell maintained a
connection to the New England Conservatory for many years. He was
called upon to serve as commencement speaker at the Conservatory in
1908, and was published several times in the New England Conservatory
Quarterly. His writings at that time advocated the teaching of oratory
in the public schools. In 1897, he had published a sixteen-page work
entitled Oratory in the Public Schools. As of 1910, Burrell was
serving as a trustee of the conservatory. As of 1951, Burrell was
serving as an associate editor of Alumni Opus, a publication of the
New England Conservatory Alumni Association.
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