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Alcatraz History
1900-1950 - The Wild Days...
- "Alcatraz was never no good for nobody."
-Frank Wathernam, the last prisoner to leave Alcatraz (March 21, 1963)
- April 18, 1906- A tremendous earthquake rocked Northern California, followed by a
firestorm that swept through San Francisco. Prisoners from the burned-out city jails had
to be transferred to Alcatraz while the city rebuilt itself.
- The following year, 1907, active military troops were removed from the island and
command was turned over to Major Reuben E. Turner and the Third and Fourth Companies of
the U.S. Military Guard. Under Turner's command, renovations on Alcatraz finally began.
- 1909- Construction of a concrete cellblock on the uppermost plateau of the island was
started.
- As the cellblock was built, it became apparent that this new structure would overshadow
the existing lighthouse, rendering it useless. Consequentially, a new lighthouse (right),
84 feet in height, was constructed in place of the original one. It was completed in
December of 1909 and manned by United States Coast Guard lightkeepers.
- In 1912, construction of the new cellhouse was completed on the island and the inmates
were moved into a cellhouse with spacious cells and more importantly, central heating. In
addition, a well-equipped medical facility was now available onsite, eliminating the need
to transfer sick, yet dangerous inmates off the island for medical treatment.
- Life on "The Rock", as both prisoners and civilians came to refer to Alcatraz,
was not easy. During the early years, incarceration meant hard labor on the grounds of the
island. By the mid 1920's, however, rumors began to circulate about unspeakable conditions
the inmates had to endure on the island. Public outcry ensued, forcing the military to
make a decision. Faced with the expense of operating the island and increasing public
discontent, the military decided to close its prison in 1933.
- In the 1920's and 1930's a new wave of crime had swept across the U.S. With the passage
of the Volstead Act in 1920, producing and distributing alcohol became an extremely
lucrative business. With this also came a sharp rise in organized crime in many of the big
cities. Even worse, the crimes committed by members of these gangs became more violent. In
July of 1933, J. Edgar Hoover was made the director of the newly formed FBI. Hoover
decided that he was going to crack down on these criminals. Hoover chose to aim high and
went after the heads of the crime gangs. The problem was that, no sooner did they manage
to incarcerate the bad guys when their buddies in the crime organizations would bust them
out. With this problem in mind, the U.S. Justice Department began looking into a maximum
security prison that was inaccessible and thereby inescapable. When they found Alcatraz,
it was almost too good to be true.
- October 12, 1933- The U.S. Justice Department officially acquired Alcatraz from the
military with plans to incorporate Alcatraz into the Bureau of Prisons.
April, 1934- Work began on Alcatraz to make the cellhouse more secure by replacing
soft-iron square bars on the cells with rounded "tool-proof" bars. In addition,
a new locking device was installed which allowed guards to open selected cells within a
block. Metal detectors were installed on the dock and at the entrance to the cellhouse.
Additionally, three new guard towers (right) were constructed to keep a birds eye view of
the activities on the island.
- Most of the military prisoners were released or transferred prior to control of the
island switching hands, in June of 1934. However, 32 of the military's worst criminals
remained on the island and became the first inmates of the U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz.
- July 1, 1934- The U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz, formally opened with James A. Johnston, a
retired California state prison official, as its first warden. At its inception, Alcatraz
employed 52 full-time correctional officers, the most of any prison in the system.
- Warden Johnston decided that the goal of Alcatraz was not going to be rehabilitation,
but rather, it would be punishment to its inmates for the wrongs they had committed.
Inmates were not permitted to have newspapers, radios, or magazines. In addition, it was
decided that all incoming mail would be type-written by corrections officers, so that
coded messages contained in the original letters could not be received by the inmates. A
silence rule was put into effect except in the recreation yard and the dining room.
Basically, Alcatraz was slated to be a limited privilege prison, meaning "You are
entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else you get is a
privilege." (Number 5, Alcatraz Prison Rules and Regulations)
- However, Warden Johnston also realized that he was dealing with some of the most
dangerous prisoners in America, so some concessions had to be made to head off the
possibility of an inmate uprising. As a result, Alcatraz's inmates enjoyed a top-rated
prison cafeteria. The menu was diverse, including salads, fresh fruit, and occasionally,
desserts. In addition, seconds on food were allowed. The food served on Alcatraz was said
to be the best in the Federal Prison system. Prisoners also enjoyed a well-stocked library
in the cellhouse and higher allotments of cigarettes than any other prison.
-
One of the prison's most notorious inmates arrived on Alcatraz shortly after the
island began operations as a federal prison. On August 22, 1934, Al Capone, along with 52
other inmates, was transferred to the island, under heavy security, from a prison in
Atlanta, Georgia. Despite Capone's notoriety, his stay on Alcatraz was surprisingly
uneventful.
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Shortly after Capone's arrival, another infamous gangster was transferred to Alcatraz.
On September 4, 1934, George "Machine Gun" Kelly arrived on the island.
- The first escape attempt from Alcatraz occurred on April 27, 1936. Joseph Bowers was
serving a 25-year sentence for robbery. Although he stole just $16 dollars, the store
happened to house the town's post office, thereby making it a federal offense. Bowers was
attempting to scale the fence surrounding the cell house when a guard noticed him. Three
warning shots were fired, one of which struck Bowers in the side, causing him to lose his
grip on the fence and fall to his death, 60 feet below.
- The following year, two more men attempted escape from the island. In the afternoon of
December 16, 1937, Theodore Cole, serving time for kidnapping, and Ralph Roe, serving time
for bank robbery, broke through a window in the mat shop, sawed their way through the
fence and made it to the bay. The prison launched several boats to search the surrounding
waters, but there was no sign of Cole or Roe. It is believed that they drowned in the
frigid waters of San Francisco Bay.
- Six months later, three more men made a daring dash for freedom that resulted in the
first correctional officer death on the island. James Lucas, Thomas Limmerick and Rufus
Franklin were working in the wood shop on May 23, 1938, when they made their attempt. They
took a hammer from the shop and struck the officer in charge on the head, killing him
instantly. Another officer in a nearby guard tower noticed the men dashing down an
embankment and fired upon them. Limmerick was shot in the head and killed. The other two
men surrendered and were later convicted of first degree murder for the death of the guard
they had attacked.
- January 13, 1939- For a period of nearly two years, five men (William Martin, Dale
Stamphill, Henri Young, Rufus McCain and Arthur "Doc" Barker) had been slowly
sawing their way through the bars on their solitary confinement cells in "D"
block (example: right). Unlike the rest of the prison, the bars in "D" block had
not been converted from soft-iron bars to "tool-proof" bars. In the early
morning hours of January 13, the men successfully removed a bar from each of their cells,
used a home-made spreader to part the "tool-proof" bars on the window and made
their way out of the cellhouse. Within 30 minutes, the empty cells had been discovered and
a search was launched. When they were discovered on the rocky shores, Martin quickly
surrendered. Barker, Stamphill, McCain and Young made a run for it, but were stopped by
gunfire. Barker was shot in the head and died, while Stamphill was slightly wounded in the
leg. The other two surrendered without injury. As punishment, McCain and Young were sent
to "dark cells", solitary confinement units with steel doors that left the
inmate in complete darkness 24 hours a day, except for a 10 minute shower once a week.
- November 1940- After almost two years in dark solitary confinement, Young and McCain
were released into the regular prison population. Within a week of release, Young stabbed
McCain to death in the tailor shop on the island. Young was tried for murder, but his
defense attorney claimed that his years on Alcatraz, particularly his time in dark
solitary confinement, had drove Young to the brink of insanity. The jury agreed with Young
and found him guilty only of manslaughter.
- As a result of the Young trial, the Bureau of Prisons launched an investigation into the
conditions on Alcatraz. While the investigation refused to state that conditions on the
island were terrible, it did recommend that "D" block be renovated. Money was
allocated by the Bureau and work began immediately to make the "treatment units"
less deplorable.
-
After having spent over 33 years in prison, another one of Alcatraz's famous inmates
was transferred to the island in 1942. As a problem prisoner from Leavenworth, Robert
"The Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud spent his entire stay in solitary confinement.
-
May 2, 1946- One of the most daring escape attempts began on this day and ended
three days later with two officers and three of the escapees dead. The Siege of '46 was
the bloodiest escape attempt to occur on Alcatraz. After such a bloody escape attempt, it
would be another 10 years before anyone attempted to escape again.
- Over the course of the next ten years, things remained quiet on Alcatraz. Warden
Johnston retired in 1948 and was replaced by another former corrections officer, Edwin
Swope. Changing wardens was tough on the prisoners because it took time to come to respect
another warden. Although Warden Johnston had been strict, he gave prisoners his respect,
which they admired. Warden Swope had a hard time earning that respect, and no sooner did
the prisoners get adjusted to his style of rule, than he decided to leave Alcatraz.
Return
to Main Alcatraz Page at SFTravel.com
Comprehensive History of
Alcatraz:
(New!) Alcatraz 2002 Renovation!
The 1700's & 1800's - the beginning
1900-1950 - crime and prison escapes...
1950
until today - the world changes...
Special Thanks: The following information was compiled and licensed for use by:
neysa76@hotmail.com
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