Harlan Page Shaw was born on July 31, 1866, in Waterville, Kings County, Nova Scotia.

He was an educator. He received his early education in the schools of Berwick and Horton Collegiate Academy, Nova Scotia. For a while, he managed his father's orchard and farm and spent one year learning woodworking in Worcester, Mass. He passed the Nova Scotia provincial examination for a teacher's licence and became principal and teacher at a primary school. In 1886, he returned to Bridgewater Normal School, graduating in 1890. He was appointed its science teacher, the position he held for forty-six years. While teaching, he continued taking courses in physiography, geology, and chemistry at the Lowel School of Science, M.I.T., Hyannis Summer School, and Harvard. He also taught mineralogy and chemistry at Hyannis Summer School. Active in civic affairs, he was a member of the Bridgewater School Committee and the Town Planning Board. He served as the Superintendent of the Sunday School at Bridgwater Baptist Church. He published several papers, e.g., "A Course in Woodworking", "The Study of Minerals", and "A Course in General Science".

In 1894, he married Nanette Mabel “Nettie” Totman Young. He died on January 16, 1940, in West Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.