Roy Everett Burt

Roy Everett Burt (September 16, 1890 – April 14, 1967) was a Methodist clergyman and an American socialist politician and functionary. Burt is best remembered as the Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America from 1936 to 1939.

Biography Early years Burt was born on a farm in Coles County, Illinois, on September 16, 1890, to Zenas Wesley Burt and Cora May Hall. 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. Burt remained active in the church throughout his life as a Christian socialist.

From 1928 to 1933, Burt was connected with the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church, studying and investigating social and economic problems.

Burt was a member of the Retail Clerks Union and the American Federation of Teachers during his working career. He was also one of the Socialist Party of America's nominees in that year's election for trustees of the University of Illinois.

Roy Burt took over for Norman Thomas protégé Clarence O. Senior as Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America effective December 15, 1936. 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 NEC.

Later years, death and legacy After leaving the post of Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party, Burt accepted the post of associate pastor of the Wesley Methodist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He died on April 14, 1967, in Topeka, Kansas.

Footnotes

Works A Young People’s Course on Christianity and the Rural Life of the World. New York: Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, n.d. [c. 1931]. Adventures in Building a Better World. Chicago: The Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1933. Report to the Special Convention: Chicago, March 26–29, 1937. [Chicago]: [Socialist Party], 1937 Socialist Handbook, 1937. (Editor) Chicago: Socialist Party, 1937. Community Service for Youth: A Guide to Christian Social Thinking and Action. Nashville: Methodist Publishing House, 1941.