July 1, 1868 [Sheffield, Illinois] – February 18, 1945 [Los Angeles, California]
Percival is best known to historians of Los Angeles as a great collector of Asian artifacts. Her poems, collected in Leaf-Shadows and Rose-Drift, Being Little Songs from a Los Angeles Garden, suggest this Asian influence (the book predates Pound’s Cathay by about 4 years). Her first job was as a saleswoman at The People’s Store; with her modest salary she built a beautiful home and garden in Arroyo Seco, initially without heat or running water. A posthumous volume of hers, Children’s Garden Book, contains many interesting, largely experimental designs for gardens.
