Harrison Potter was born on May 9, 1891 in North Adams, Massachusetts to Wells E. Potter and Mae E. Potter. He studied piano with several teachers, including David Roberts in North Adams, Felix Fox in Boston, and Isidore Philipp in Paris. He performed numerous recitals and concerts throughout the United States, both as a soloist and as an accompanist. He taught piano at several institutions, including the Felix Fox School of Pianoforte Playing, Phillips Andover Academy, Sarah Lawrence College, and Miss Porter's School. He was Assistant Professor of Music at Mount Holyoke from 1946 to 1948, and Associate Professor of Music from 1948 to 1957. He was also on the faculty of the Chautauqua, New York Summer Music School, and was Choral Director at the Chautauqua Institution from 1948 to 1952. He married Margaret Fraser. He died at ninety-three on October 3, 1984 in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

The Harrison Potter papers consist of concert programs, concert announcements and reviews, memorabilia, correspondence, concert plans, biographical information, and photographs. The collection primarily consists of concert programs and reviews documenting his concert career between 1900 and 1974. The collection includes a few items of a more personal nature, including two letters to the editor documenting some personal opinions and a letter, in French, from a family friend inquiring about a mutual friend and extending an invitation to a son's wedding. Also of particular note is a scrapbook containing programs, postcards, and newspaper clippings relating to the 1910-1911 opera season in New York City. The concert programs in the collection consist of approximately 190 programs for recitals and concerts in which he performed as accompanist or soloist, including programs for several series of lectures on music given by Marion Bauer for which he provided "illustration," and several programs for concerts in which he performed Bauer's work. The photographs consist of a photographic postcard, possibly of him, in a general store, circa 1910s; a signed photograph from "Solomon;" and formal portraits of Harrison Potter alone and with a piano student.

This collection is organized into seven series:

• Concert Programs
• Concert Announcements and Reviews
• Memorabilia
• Correspondence
• Concert Plans
• Biographical Information
• Photographs