Alcatraz

Alcatraz “You are entitled to food clothing, shelter and medical attention. Anything else you get is a privilege.” (Number 5, Alcatraz Prison Rules and Regulations, 1934) This rule was one of the realities of life inside the walls of the U.S. Federal Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island. The island is in the heart of San Francisco Bay, just a mile and a quarter away from one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The subject of many movies and books, Alcatraz became a symbol of America’s dark side. There are a lot of documentaries, movies, articles and books about Alcatraz. From fiction rather than fact, we have stories of the prison and of some of the real men who lived in its cells: Al “Scarface” Capone and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz”. Jolene Babyak, the author of Eyewitness on Alcatraz and a former resident of the island, says that the residents of the island were rarely interviewed and the truth of Alcatraz has often been overlooked, lost in the fog of its myths. Alcatraz has been so much more than just a notorious penitantiary. In the time allowed I’d like to tell you about the major purposes the island served throughout its history. It all started on July 18, 1850 when a military board proposed a three-point defensive strategy for San Francisco Bay. This approach required that a massive brick fort be built on each side of the Golden Gate. Alcatraz was selected as the third site with smaller fortification. The city and its rich port were very tempting for Confederate raiders and during the Civil War Alcatraz was an important part of the U.S. Army’s western defense plan. However military technology advanced quickly and the island’s defense became obsolete. In 1907 the Army formally decommissioned Alcatraz as a fortification. When the fort was decommissioned, regular army troops were replaced by the U.S. Military Guard. They tore down the citadel built during the war and started building a huge concrete cellhouse. In 1915 Alcatraz was renamed “United States Disciplinary Barracks, Pacific Branch”. It became a military prison. It wasn’t long before objectors to World War I joined the inmate population on the island. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the Bureau of Prison’s became interested in the island as a high profile, maximum security prison. Transferred from the War Department to the Department of Justice Alcatraz reopened in 1934 as a federal penitentiary. Out of 1500 men who did time on the island only a handful were notorious. Among them Al “Scarface” Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz”. Between 1934 and 1963 a total of 36 men tried to escape from the island in 14 separate attempts. The best known occurred in 1962 when Frankie Lee Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin slipped into the water using raincoats as floatation devices. Although the bodies were never found, the men are assumed to have drowned in the bay. Increasing maintenance and operating cost led U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to close Alcatraz in 1963. After the prison closed, the island was maintained as excess government property, until 1969 when a nineteen month occupation by the Native Americans began. According to Eileen Campbell in Discover Alcatraz, the Indians of All Tribes offered to buy Alcatraz from the federal government for $24 in beads, colored cloth and other trade goods. In “The Proclamation to the Great White Father and All His People’, they noted that Alcatraz reminded them of an Indian reservation because “it is isolated from the modern facilities, the soil is rocky and unproductive, and the land does not support game.” The occupants were highly supported by the media and population, but with growing expenses in supporting people on the isolated land, in 1971 the occupants left Alcatraz. Fortunately for future generations in 1972 Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Today Alcatraz is a National Park and one of the most popular attractions in America. The tours are available for the visitors offering to explore the historic remains. Modern Alcatraz is an evolving ecological preserve. The plants that were once plated by the families that lived on the island now provide food and shelter for the birds and animals, now the only residents Alcatraz. Although Alcatraz is best known for its 29 year history as a federal penitentiary, it has a much longer history as a “prison island”. The story begins in the 1850’s as a military fort; as a federal penitentiary in 1934-1963; it was a landmark in Native American history in 1969; and finally a National Park. The reputation of Alcatraz, represents a lasting reminder that isolation is one of the constants of island life; let it be a prisoner, a soldier, a guard or a plant. Bibliography: Babyak, J. (1996). Eyewitness on Alcatraz. Berkeley, CA: Ariel Vamp Press. Campbell, E., Rigsby, M., Dunham, T. (1997). Discover Alcatraz. San Francisco, CA: Golden Gate National Park Assosiation. DeNevi, D., Bergen, P. (1974). Alcatraz’46: The Anatomy of a Classic Prison Tragedy. San Rafael, CA: Leswing Press.