Information on Burt Green and The White Rats union

I was finally able to dig up a multitude of information on Burton Green within the last two hours! To start with what I found, is that he lived from 1874 to November 17, 1922. He was the pianist at Huber's and Pastor's theatre in the late-1890's and was so for at least ten or more years, as it was at Pastor's in 1896 that he came upon the "Rag" pianists Fred Hylands and Ben Harney, who were fresh out of the west(Hylands from Chicago, and Harney from Louisville). When Hylands became the music director at Pastor's, it was soon that Burt caught one to the "Rag" craze of 1896. He was married to a writer by the name of Helen Van Campen around this time. While getting the great salary of 75 dollars a week, he worked as a publisher and fellow of Fred Hylands, Len Spencer, and Harry Yeager in 1899 and 1900. After the firm collapsed in 1900, Burt still worked well and fully under Pastor and alongside Ben Harney still. But he split ways with Hylands from here, as Hylands was joining different ventures at this time. 

After a few more years at Huber's and Pastor's, he came to meet a pretty young singer and unusual performer Irene Franlkin. He was stricken by her quick at the first sight of her at the stage of his employer, doing what she didn't do in the acts by singing and tapping out steps while she did her odd costume changes onstage. Not long after he had been her accompanist, Burt proposed to her around 1909, just after he divorced Helen. They were married not long after that, then they became a performing hit along the vaudeville circuits for years. As Franklin's career blossomed, so did Burt's as he was her official pianist wherever she went, so that ended his time at the theaters on 14 street and etc. 

They went and performed for the troops in France during the First World War and were the first to get highly paid advertisements in the papers and magazines all over the east coast. 

Irene's career only got better, but Burt was diminishing little by little as the teen's went on, ultimately leading to his death on November 17, 1922, while they were on tour. 

Here's the first Rag he and Irene wrote in 1908:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDtGUhuM1B8

It's an odd one. 

Now onto the second thing in this post. As I was searching around for Burt Green, I stumbled upon some more information about a certain union that I know from somewhere:

(Freddy Hylands!)
Not all the information I read made me happy or impressed though...

Anyhow, I learned that there was a very intricate and large group of actors and performers involved in this union, and I'm guessing that certain people were selected as leaders(such as Hylands). Their strikes were dreaded by all the managers everywhere and they were very tough on the managers.  Performers such as George Fuller Golden, who was a rough and tough performer and elocutionist, was a friend of many local vaudevillians(such as Hylands), and was one of the founders of the White Rats union. It was a vicious and secretive union whose membership increased to well over a thousand by Hylands' death in 1913. If any manager found a white Rat member in his troupe , they would immediately be kicked out of the show and lose the booking, and most of the time even the employment with the stage. The one thing that got me shocked and disappointed was the racial factors in this group(ehm! Hence the name of the union any how!). I don't want to get into the details of it, but they had a terrible racial tension that was lead by its earliest members(i.e. Hylands and George F. Golden). This would mean that great black composers like Bert Williams and J. Rosamond Johnson(even Hylands' old fellow recording star George W. Johnson)would not be allowed to join in on their protests and advocacy.

I'm still learning more!

I hope you enjoyed this!