Although the infamy of Alcatraz Federal Prison has faded over the decades, the mere mention of its name fifty years ago would make a prisoners’ ears tingle. From its start as a military prison, its reputation as a cruel and unforgiving penitentiary made it feared by criminals throughout America. When Alcatraz, also known as “The Rock,” opened in 1934, it was proclaimed to be an “unescapable prison,” meant for the worst convicts in America. Throughout its history, thirty-six inmates tried to escape, all of who failed… except for possibly three. The fate of these men has been under investigation for almost fifty years now. Some evidence suggests that they died in the cold, shark infested waters surrounding the prison. Other clues suggest that …show more content…
He christened it “La Isla de los Alcatraces,” which meant Island of the Pelicans. Almost a century later, America procured it for military use in the 1850s. From 1861 to 1865 it held many prisoners during the American Civil War, such as confederate sympathizers. In the 20th century, a new cell house was constructed by inmates which contained 600 cells, a mess hall, hospital, and other typical prison buildings. At the time of its completion, it was the biggest reinforced concrete building ever made. In 1934, the military closed the prison due to high maintenance costs, and ownership shifted to the U.S. Justice Department. At this period in American history, the Great Depression brought forth a new age of organized crime, and by the time Prohibition had been ratified, the gangster era was in full bloom. Police and other law enforcement agencies would often cower before the more heavily armed gangs during shoot outs and while trying to stop their criminal activities. With powerful and influential mobsters putting immense pressure on metropolitan cities and their officials, Americans were afraid for their way of life. To deal with these gangsters, America needed a prison that not only could hold these dangerous and slippery criminals, but also one that drove fear into their hearts as a deterrent against their crimes. (Alcatraz: A Definitive …show more content…
Inmates described it as “a living death.” Prisoners were isolated from each other and confined in cells five feet wide and nine feet long, and until the late 1930s could only speak to one another during meals and recreational periods. (Alcatraz History) The more unruly prisoners were sent to D Block, where they would be confined to their cell twenty-four hours a day except for once a week visits to the recreational grounds. Regulation number five describes the few good things a prisoner could expect, stating, “You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else you get is a privilege.” Stuck in this loathsome way of life, many inmates tried to free themselves by various ingenious escape attempts. The lucky ones who did not die in the attempt had to suffer harsh disciplinary actions, such as being quartered into a cell called “The Hole,” an empty, lightless, void of a room that only had a small drain for human waste. With all of these security precautions in place, Alcatraz’s reputation as an escape-proof prison was untarnished for decades. (Alcatraz
It housed some of America 's most dangerous felons from 1899 through 1947. Those dangerous felons included, Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud from 1890 through 1963. That is seventy-three years of being stuck at a prison, crazy right? After quite some years the prison was shut down due to the operating costs being out of this world expensive. After
Alcatraz Island Federal Prison I think that Alcatraz had a lot of cool history and isn’t really thought of being very nice but it was actually a well maintained prison until it closed. Alcatraz Island was one of the biggest and most expensive federal prison. They had to take the military prison and put solitary confinement cells, used tempered steel for the bars, made 6 guard towers, and the cells were 5x9 foot cells.
New prison construction was a short-term solution as the number of prisoners continued to rise and budgets continued to fall, limiting construction funding (Rogan,
Escape from Alcatraz On June 11th, 1962 three hardened criminals, Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin, attempted their daring escape from Alcatraz, one of the most brutal prisons of it’s time. But one question remains: Did they survive their escape? Let’s search through the evidence they left behind. Our first piece of evidence is that the prisoners had a very well thought through plan as of how they were going to get out of the prison.
Prison reform has been an ongoing topic in the history of America, and has gone through many changes in America's past. Mixed feelings have been persevered on the status of implementing these prison reform programs, with little getting done, and whether it is the right thing to do to help those who have committed a crime. Many criminal justice experts have viewed imprisonment as a way to improve oneself and maintain that people in prison come out changed for the better (encyclopedia.com, 2007). In the colonial days, American prisons were utilized to brutally punish individuals, creating a gruesome experience for the prisoners in an attempt to make them rectify their behavior and fear a return to prison (encyclopedia.com, 2007). This practice may have worked 200 years ago, but as the world has grown more complex, time has proven that fear alone does not prevent recidivism.
This story will be about a group of mobsters that are destined to go to prison, but find a surprise while trying to escape. The group contains Michael “Finn” O 'Leary, Albert “Weasel” Arlington, Salvatore “Sal” DeLuca, and Billy Handsome. The second paragraph will be about how they got into Alcatraz. The third paragraph will be about them planning the escape. The fourth paragraph will be about them waking up to the destroyed prison.
Alcatraz The prison Alcatraz lying just off the San Francisco Bay held some of the most terrifying, dangerous, obstreperous felons. These men were assassins, thieves, and unmanageable inmates from other penitentiaries. Alcatraz was a military prison in 1886 and then was a federal prison from 1933 to 1963. The living conditions for the prisoners were harsh.
David Shapiro, a member of the American Civil Labor Union and lead author of “Banking on Bondage”, deems private prisons a “danger to state finances” in his report on the corruption of today’s for-profit prison. In the process of cutting costs, the private prison industry puts together a low-quality staff with poorly trained guards and a high turnover– thus, increasing the risk of escapees, inmate violence and prisoner mistreatment. As a result of the poor quality, the public sector is heavily affected. In one case, the conditions of a privately run Arizona prison were studied after the escape of a prisoner, and it was reported that the prison staff was fairly “green” across all shifts, lacked weapon proficiency, and even ignored the sounding alarms as a prisoner
How is the Yuma Territorial prison significant to the city of Yuma? How is the Yuma Territorial Prison significant to the Southwest region of the United States? Well, the Territorial Prison is significant to the city of Yuma and the Southwest region because the prison was the one thing that helped start to develop the houses and population of yuma. Also, the prison had helped influence and build some of the buildings in Yuma. After the prison closed down in 1909 it became a temporary school after a prison and after it was a school it became a museum which brought more people to yuma, like tourist because they wanted to see the prison.
Some inmates called it the “ snake den “ maybe because a prisoner got bitten by a snake while in there ( Murphy 1999 ). The dark cell which was a room that was fifteen feet by fifteen feet and contained an iron cage, the only source of light they had came from a small vent in the ceiling that is a reason why it was nicknamed the dark cell. Contact with any other inmates while in the dark cell was forbidden. The longest someone spent in the “ dark cell “ was one hundred and twenty days, the inmate never spent a day in there again! Furthermore while in the cell, they were only given bread and water once a day.
The prison was a great prison compared to others and it did help house many homeless people and families. To the people who lived there, it was a torturous place that they spent their days in. Some were foreigners and were as far away from their family as possible living in a grotesque and cruel environment. Now it is a historic site to visit that showed how it was to live and suffer
The prison hasn’t just been used to provide a building, but its been used for it’s material and has been slowly torn apart. Piece by piece through time, parts of the prison have been torn down. In 1916, there was a flood in Yuma and what the townspeople used to rebuild were parts from the prison (Murphy 1). In order for the Southern Pacific Railroad to be built the western walls and the woman's cells had to be destroyed in 1923 (The Yuma Territorial Prison). More destruction was made when the hospital in the prison and the Mes Hall were burned down in 1924 (The Yuma Territorial Prison).
Few remember that not just the indicted are changed in the prison system-the authority figures become different, too. Thousands of people go to detention facilities and stay there from minutes to decades, but the authority figures stay there with every influx of new prisoners. The wardens, in particular, are a monumental part of the system. They regulate the prisoners causing them to adapt to situations, whether positive or negative. Samuel Norton, the warden in the adaptation of Stephen King’s Shawshank Redemption, is embodied by the atmosphere of the prison.
“Yuma Territorial Prison.” Lecture, Yuma, AZ, January 8-9,
Escape From Alcatraz: Did They Survive? Created to house the most intimidating criminals, the critically acclaimed maximum prison proved to be less efficient than planned. Alcatraz was a desolate, dreary abode for the cruelest of criminals. With strict regulations and isolated conditions, prisoners were pushed to their very extent. “A prisoner at Alcatraz found himself in a harsh, isolated world..”