Photographer George Ballis, who chronicled the UFW, is gravely ill

It is with sadness that we learned George "Elfie" Ballis, whose photographic skill and insight chronicled the drama and joy of Cesar Chavez’s farm worker movement over five decades, is gravely ill with prostate cancer, according to reports from his wife, Maia.

George began covering the farm workers during the mid-1960s as editor in Fresno of the Central Valley’s AFL-CIO publication. He recorded some of the most memorable milestones of the Delano Grape Strike, including Cesar Chavez’s 1968 fast for nonviolence. In recent years, George has been a fixture at UFW constitutional conventions, mingling with the hundreds of delegates and documenting their proceedings and guest speakers.

One of his most renowned images is Cesar Chavez leading a jubilant march of farm workers on the first day of the United Farm Workers’ historic Delano-to-Sacramento trek in March 1966. It has been featured in books and magazines, and even graces bottles of Black Eagle Wine, produced under contract by union members at St. Supery Winery in Napa Valley and sold to benefit ongoing UFW organizing efforts.

"No one has consistently demonstrated George’s love and commitment to La Causa over so many decades," declares UFW President Arturo Rodriguez and Paul Chavez, president of the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation.

The Ballis family requests that messages to George be communicated via email to elfie@sunmt.org