Background
Burt was born on a farm in Coles County, Illinois on September 16, 1890 to Zenas Wesley Burt and Cora May Hall.
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Roy Everett Burt
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Career
Burt is best remembered as the Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America from 1936 to 1939. Early years
His family moved to Kansas when Roy was 9 years old. Later they left the farm to move to a mining community in the Southeastern part of the state.
As a boy, Burt worked in and around the mines and as a clerk in shops in his hometown.
Burt earned a teacher"s degree from the University of Kansas at Lawrence and did graduate work at Northwestern University and the Garrett Biblical Institute. He worked as a teacher, principal, and high school superintendent in Northeastern Oklahoma.
During the years of the World War I, Burt resided in Lawrence, Kansas. In 1932, Burt was the candidate of the Supreme People's Assembly for Governor of Illinois.
During the fall 1936 electoral campaign, Burt was employed as a speaker on behalf of the Thomas-Nelson campaign.
He spoke continuously from September 13 to November 1, starting his tour in Pennsylvania before heading to the Pacific coast and back through the Southwest. Roy Burt took over for Norman Thomas protégé Clarence O. Senior as Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America effective December 15, 1936. After taking a leave of absence on March 1, 1939, during which he was replaced temporarily by Arthur G. McDowell, Burt resigned as National Executive Secretary late in that same month.
Later years, death and legacy
He died on April 14, 1967 in Topeka, Kansas.
Politics
Burt remained active in the church throughout his life as a Christian socialist. Political career
During the 1930s, Burt worked for the Socialist Party as a field organizer, a job which took him to almost every state of the union during the course of his activities establishing and building party locals.
Membership
Burt was a member of the Retail Clerks Union and the American Federation of Teachers during his working career. He was replaced at the April 15–17, 1939 session of the National Executive Committee by Travers Clement of Los Gatos, California, himself a member of the Nippon Electric Corporation.
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Born
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Died
April 14, 1967 (aged 76) -
Political Party
Socialist Party of America