Monday 21st April: Alcatraz

Alcatraz lies in San Francisco bay 1½ miles off-shore. Soon after California became part of the USA in 1848, Alcatraz was turned into a military fortress and then in 1867/8 became a military prison. In 1933 the US Dept. of Justice took it over as a federal penitentiary to house the country’s most difficult convicts. The first prisoners were installed in 1934, and the jail served in that capacity for the next 29 years. The island was totally self-sufficient, with a power generation plant, food processing, laundry etc. Water was shipped over in bulk.

The next photo is taken from the boat taking us to Alcatraz and shows the island’s rocky profile and isolation, making it an ideal prison location. The bay waters are cold throughout the year, so discouraging an escape attempt by swimming. The prison block is the building right on the top of the island.

 Official business only! This notice greeted all who approached too close.

This was a no-nonsense prison. Warders were called correction officers and tight discipline was enforced with armed guards patrolling from behind a barred gallery so they could not be overpowered and their weapons seized. They were guarding these three-tiered cell corridors, of which there were three main corridors and an isolation block. This is the central corridor known as Broadway.

Individual cells throughout looked like this. They housed major criminals like Al Capone, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, and “Machine Gun” Kelly. 

“D” Block, or the isolation section, was reserved for the most troublesome prisoners. The most famous of these was Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz”. He spent all of his 17 years here in isolation due to his extremely violent history, including killing a prison guard for which he narrowly missed the death penalty. This is the “D” Block

Yet Stroud was a very intelligent man who had become a world expert on canaries at his previous prison where he finally killed the guard and got transferred to Alcatraz. He was denied access to his bird studies as part of his punishment. This is what Stroud looked like.

There was a more severe regime available in “D” Block: the “Hole”. These were solitary confinement cells where a restricted diet and total darkness was sometimes applied. Those deemed to deserve such treatment were held there for several days, up to a maximum of 19.

There was a daily recreation period, to be taken in the exercise yard.  Bridge was especially popular and the men stayed outside for the full term of several hours even in the bitter cold. The yard looks a forbidding place, as you can see. Reminds me of my old school playground.

There were 14 separate escape attempts and the official line was that no convicts made it. The bloodiest attempt was in 1946 when three convicts and two guards died.

The attempt in 1962 was, and still is, the most intriguing. Three prisoners made dummy heads for their beds so that the guards saw them “asleep” when they made their regular inspections. Supposedly in bed, they headed up a ventilation shaft that led out onto the roof. They had with them 50 rubber raincoats from other inmates that made into a raft, and wooden paddles scrounged from other sources. They planned to climb down from the roof, reach the sea, and paddle away.

The official version is that they drowned, but no bodies were ever found, although bits of the raft and paddles were discovered on the shore of another island in the bay. However, there were reported sightings of the men for many years afterwards and the families claimed to have received postcards in the men‘s handwriting. The US Marshall’s file will remain open until they all reach the age of 100.  

The prison closed in 1963 and lay abandoned for 6 years until occupied by Native Americans demanding just treatment for the return and self-government of Indian territories. They were there for two years. This high water tower is still inscribed with slogans for their cause that sought to generate public sympathy. Their campaign was partly successful and a turning point in the government’s attitude to Indian administration within their own lands. The Prison Governor’s old residence was accidentally burnt down during their occupation. 

Another kind of protest was taking place on Alcatraz during our visit, this time with official approval. Art activist Ai Weiwei was exhibiting a set of dissidents’ faces from repressive political regime. They are all made from Lego and are divided into world sections. He himself can’t leave China for his political statements through his art. So he’s a kind of prisoner, exhibiting the faces of many who are in prison, in a prison. Very appropriate.

This final photo sums up, for me, the chilly, moody atmosphere of Alcatraz, looking from the island towards the misty Golden Gate Bridge over a grey, cold sea.