Lester Balog
Encyclopedia
Lester Balog was a labor activist and founding member of the Workers' Film & Photo League
Born in Hungary
, he immigrated to the United States in the early 1920s. A soccer player in Budapest, after immigrating to the U.S. with his family as a teen, he joined the Labor Sports Union in New York. From there, he got involved with other Workers’ organizations. In 1925, after mainstream media photographers were beaten during the Passaic Textile Strike in Passaic, New Jersey, he took up a camera to document the strike and the brutality of police toward the strikers. He became a “worker filmmaker” who helped to make the film, Passaic Textile Strike
one of the earliest surviving films about workers’ struggles.
In 1926, at the age of 21, and year from an engineering degree, Balog left Cooper Union in New York City to join the workers’ movement. He designed banners and posters for political events, and continued to photograph and document the struggles of his era. He became a projectionist and showed “workers’ films” to groups in theatres, union halls, community centers and other alternative settings.
In 1930, he and others in New York City took the name Film & Photo League
.
In 1933, he left New York on a cross country film tour, showing Workers’ Newsreels and the Soviet film “Mother” in over fifty cities. In San Francisco, he was active with the Film and Photo League
there, and continued to project films at leftist events in California. He contributed to the only extant film of the San Francisco Film and Photo League, "Century of Progress," (1934) which he donated to The Walter P. Reuther Library of Wayne State University in the 1970s. The film featured footage of the 1933 Cotton Strike in Tulare County. Balog also donated other films portraying farm workers from the 1930s and 1960s, as well as a film he produced as a member of the "Miscellaneous Workers Union" portraying a Labor Day parade and actions in San Francisco, 1941.
In 1934, he was arrested in Tulare County, CA
and jailed for showing films without a permit of the previous year's strikes to a group of farmworkers.
From 1942–1945, he served in the Army. In the late 1940s, he was a photographer for the ILWU
. In the 1950s, he moved to Cambria, CA
with his wife and children, and ran a movie theater there. He moved to the Los Angeles area in the 1960s, and became an active member of the UAW
. He continued to screen films throughout his life to activist audiences.
One of the famous photographs of Woody Guthrie
was taken by Balog around 1941, showing Guthrie holding a guitar that says "This Machine Kills Fascists." The photograph was used on the cover of the Woody Archives 2009 release "My Dusty Road."
Workers Film and Photo League
The Workers Film and Photo League was an organization of filmmakers in the United States initially affiliated with the Workers International Relief...
Born in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, he immigrated to the United States in the early 1920s. A soccer player in Budapest, after immigrating to the U.S. with his family as a teen, he joined the Labor Sports Union in New York. From there, he got involved with other Workers’ organizations. In 1925, after mainstream media photographers were beaten during the Passaic Textile Strike in Passaic, New Jersey, he took up a camera to document the strike and the brutality of police toward the strikers. He became a “worker filmmaker” who helped to make the film, Passaic Textile Strike
The Passaic Textile Strike (film)
The Passaic Textile Strike is a 1926 American silent film directed by Samuel Russak. The film was produced to raise public awareness and financial support for the 1926 Passaic Textile Strike, which involved over 15,000 New Jersey textile mill workers in a work stoppage lasting more than a year...
one of the earliest surviving films about workers’ struggles.
In 1926, at the age of 21, and year from an engineering degree, Balog left Cooper Union in New York City to join the workers’ movement. He designed banners and posters for political events, and continued to photograph and document the struggles of his era. He became a projectionist and showed “workers’ films” to groups in theatres, union halls, community centers and other alternative settings.
In 1930, he and others in New York City took the name Film & Photo League
Workers Film and Photo League
The Workers Film and Photo League was an organization of filmmakers in the United States initially affiliated with the Workers International Relief...
.
In 1933, he left New York on a cross country film tour, showing Workers’ Newsreels and the Soviet film “Mother” in over fifty cities. In San Francisco, he was active with the Film and Photo League
San Francisco Film and Photo League
The San Francisco Film and Photo League was one of the associated groups of the Workers Film and Photo League. Active from 1933-1934, the San Francisco General Strike ended their activity in 1934, with the disappearance of equipment and films during vigilante raids associated with the strike...
there, and continued to project films at leftist events in California. He contributed to the only extant film of the San Francisco Film and Photo League, "Century of Progress," (1934) which he donated to The Walter P. Reuther Library of Wayne State University in the 1970s. The film featured footage of the 1933 Cotton Strike in Tulare County. Balog also donated other films portraying farm workers from the 1930s and 1960s, as well as a film he produced as a member of the "Miscellaneous Workers Union" portraying a Labor Day parade and actions in San Francisco, 1941.
In 1934, he was arrested in Tulare County, CA
Tulare County, California
Tulare County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Fresno. Sequoia National Park is located in the county, as are part of Kings Canyon National Park, in its northeast corner , and part of Mount Whitney, on its eastern border...
and jailed for showing films without a permit of the previous year's strikes to a group of farmworkers.
From 1942–1945, he served in the Army. In the late 1940s, he was a photographer for the ILWU
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii and Alaska, and in British Columbia, Canada. It also represents hotel workers in Hawaii, cannery workers in Alaska, warehouse workers throughout...
. In the 1950s, he moved to Cambria, CA
Cambria, California
Cambria is a seaside village located midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the California State Route 1 . The name Cambria was settled upon in 1869 .It is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States...
with his wife and children, and ran a movie theater there. He moved to the Los Angeles area in the 1960s, and became an active member of the UAW
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
. He continued to screen films throughout his life to activist audiences.
One of the famous photographs of Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
was taken by Balog around 1941, showing Guthrie holding a guitar that says "This Machine Kills Fascists." The photograph was used on the cover of the Woody Archives 2009 release "My Dusty Road."