Alcatraz is one of the most infamous prisons in history, but this island penitentiary was
actually a lot different than its legend suggests. From prison bands to escape attempts, here’s
what life on Alcatraz was really like.
Al Capone was the most famous inmate Alcatraz ever had. Part of the reason he was sent there
was not because no other prison could hold him, but because he was having way too much
fun in the prison they originally put him in. During his time in an Atlanta prison,
Capone reportedly bribed all the guards and got special privileges in return, including
a constant stream of visitors. He tried to do the same on Alcatraz, but the warden wasn't
having any of it. Capone was just like any other inmate.The one time he did get his way
was when he begged for permission to form a band.
His band, "The Rock Islanders", included 12 members and two alternates. They practiced
during the week in the barbershop, and they sometimes gave concerts on Sunday afternoons.
Capone wrote to his son, relishing in his musical hobby, and bragging he knew over 500
songs. One ex-inmate told reporters Capone had become a pretty good banjo player.
For all its fearsome reputation as a barren rock no one could escape from, some inmates
in other prisons actually requested transfers to the terrible Alcatraz. The island had some
perks that made staying there relatively decent. However, the nice things were often really
just a disguise for better security.
Take the prison food, for example. Alcatraz's first warden knew that prisoners were more
likely to riot if their meals were terrible. So they were served decent grub. One menu
from the 1940s included bacon jambalaya, pork roast with all the trimmings, or beef pot
pie Anglaise. While the cells on the Rock were tinier than normal, they only housed
one man, and that level of relative privacy was something the prisoners absolutely loved.
Perhaps the best perk was the showers. The actual equipment was nothing special, and
there was no privacy. But unlike other prisons, Alcatraz allowed its inmates access to "moderately
hot water." The idea was, if they ever tried to escape, the freezing bay water would be
even more of a shock.
Believe it or not, many Alcatraz guards chose to live on the island itself. The rent was
cheap, the commute was short, and they were allowed to bring their families. This meant
children lived in close proximity to some of the country's worst criminals.
Over 100 kids reportedly grew up on Alcatraz, and some were even born there. They had happy
childhoods, playing baseball, flying kites, roller skating, or competing in soapbox derbies.
There was a game room with pool tables and a jukebox. The only difference was if they
were on the playground and an alarm sounded, they had to run straight home. Most of the
island was off limits, but kids being kids, that was just another fun game, sneaking around
where they weren't allowed.
They even interacted with the inmates. Many prisoners were employed as maintenance workers,
and kids would wave or talk to them as they picked up garbage or fixed the plumbing in
guards' homes. One man who grew up there says his father made it a point for him to meet
and talk to convicts. Some former residents even claim to have Al Capone stories.
Deafening silence
There was one rule on Alcatraz considered so harsh that it only lasted a few years.
Like in a monastery, there were strict limits on when prisoners could talk. Essentially,
this nearly complete silence was mandated regularly. Even the most introverted inmate
was going to start losing it under those conditions, so it's no surprise that there are many reports
that prisoners hated it. A San Francisco newspaper even ran a headline in 1935 declaring "Alcatraz
Silence Awful."
The convicts couldn't speak to each other or the guards when standing in line, when
being moved around the prison, or even when eating, except to order their food. The only
times they could converse freely were in the exercise yard on the weekends or at work in
the factory. Desperate, many inmates drained the water from their toilets and found a way
of communicating through the sewage pipes. The rule was repealed in the late 1930s, less
than five years after it was instituted.
While prisoners might sit in their cells dreaming about escaping, very few of the inmates on
Alcatraz ever actually attempted it. The Rock was known as the country's most secure prison,
and criminals there seem to have decided it wasn't worth trying. The vast majority simply
resigned themselves to serving out their time.
The exceptions were few and far between. In the 29 years the prison was open, 36 men were
involved in 14 escape attempts. None of them succeeded and only two of those 36 men tried
twice. However, 23 were caught in the act, six were shot and killed during their attempts,
and at least two drowned in the freezing bay. The other bodies were never recovered.
The most infamous escape attempt, made into the movie Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint
Eastwood, involved three men who some people think actually managed it. It's almost certain
they drowned or succumbed to hypothermia, but no one knows for sure. Other attempts
to flee were just as interesting. One prisoner who worked in the laundry room stole a complete
army uniform piece by piece over time, then put it on and just walked onto a boat. Unfortunately,
it wasn't headed to San Francisco, and he was quickly apprehended.
Prisoners might not have tried to escape often, but that didn't mean they were always happy
inside.
"No!"
When they got upset, sometimes they went on strike.
The biggest strike was in January 1936, when around 60 percent of the convicts stopped
working. The trouble started in the laundry room, and the group got bigger and bigger,
until the guards had to lock about 130 inmates back in their cells. The inmates all started
yelling, and five ended up in solitary. The next day, 24 inmates who worked in the kitchen
joined the strike, and the guards had to cook food instead. Seven more prisoners ended up
in solitary. Everyone locked in their cells who refused to work were only given water.
When they finally got food again, some went on a hunger strike and were force fed. By
the end of the month, everyone returned to work.
In September 1937, The Madera Tribune reported on yet another strike. It's thought that news
of a major escape attempt in Folsom State Prison that month might've made its way into
Alcatraz somehow and sparked the strike. That time, about 100 inmates sat down in their
cells and refused to go to work. Anyone that didn't give in was thrown in solitary. The
warden said it was just an attempt by the prisoners to draw attention to themselves.
Inmates need things to do, or they get bored, which means they get aggressive, and that's
something guards want to avoid at all costs. After all, nobody wants a bunch of shankings.
So even the hardened criminals on Alcatraz were given jobs, as long as they were well-behaved.
There were a wide variety of occupations on offer, although one warden pointed out that
a lot of the guys ended up in prison because they didn't have the skills for honest work,
so matching inmates with tasks could be difficult. Many helped run the prison itself, doing the
cooking and cleaning, while others were involved with dock work or maintenance. But the vast
majority worked in a massive factory on the island. There they might toil in the laundry
facilities, but mainly, it was all about producing things like shoes, gloves, rubber mats, brooms,
brushes, raincoats, and furniture, which is similar to prisons today. They also helped
repair buoys used in the bay, and during World War II, they did their patriotic duty making
cargo nets for the Navy.
Life in Alcatraz wasn't all sitting in cells and working. Inmates were allowed to have
fun. Prisoners could borrow from the library, with each reading an average of seven books
and three magazines a month. There were biweekly church services for the spiritual. And in
the yard, men played chess, checkers, horseshoes, and dominoes. The more athletic could try
their hand at baseball or handball. In 1936, 60 inmates took part in a serious softball
league. And the intellectuals could sign up for 19 different correspondence courses, including
Poultry Husbandry, Elementary English Literature, the Beginning of Civilization, and Beginning
Algebra.
One of the major forms of entertainment was gardening. According to The Golden Gate National
Park Conservancy, the so-called Rock was actually a great place for plants, thanks to the military
importing soil to the island in the 1800s. When the federal Bureau of Prisons took over
in 1933, the warden's secretary started taking care of the plants and convinced the warden
to let prisoners help, too. They worked with horticulturalists to transform the Rock into
a paradise. Inmate Elliott Michener worked on the gardens for nine years and got so into
it that he was given special permission to order seeds and bulbs. He later said the hobby
was the start of a "lasting interest in creativity." The gardens were so beautiful and historic
that they were restored in 2003.
These days, people like to think Alcatraz is haunted because of the violent deaths that
occurred there and the fact it's a creepy old abandoned building. But even when it was
full of prisoners, there were many ghost sightings. It seems guards and inmates alike were constantly
dealing with eerie happenings.
Legends of America says guards heard phantom cannons and gunshots, which would send them
diving for cover, thinking the inmates had inexplicably gotten their hands on a siege
weapon somehow. A laundry room was said to fill with smoke as if it was on fire, only
for it to be perfectly clear minutes later. There were reports of screaming, sobbing,
and moaning, all with no obvious source. There were horrible smells and sudden drops in temperature.
The US military used the island for almost 100 years before it became a prison, and one
haunting involved an old-timey soldier.
Modern, sensational retellings of alleged Alcatraz hauntings say that this specter was
so common the guards made a joke out of it. "The Thing" was a man dressed in late 1800s-style
clothing, with glowing red eyes, and he was said to haunt D-Block. Once, a prisoner was
locked in solitary and supposedly started screaming that someone with red eyes was in
there with him. The guards ignored him, and he screamed for hours, then silence. In the
morning, they found the inmate dead.
In general, Alcatraz was a peaceful place. But it was a prison, so obviously there were
some exceptions. In addition to six men shot during escape attempts, eight people were
murdered by inmates. But considering how dangerous the guys inside were, and the fact that Alcatraz
was open for 29 years, that's not as bad as one might expect. Even prison riots weren't
common. However, there was one glaring exception to the mostly peaceful record.
In 1946, there was an escape attempt that the Encyclopedia Britannica calls "unprecedented
in violence." Inmate Bernard Coy had noticed the bars on the room holding the guards' guns
could be pulled apart slightly, so he lost 20 pounds in order to squeeze through. On
May 2md, Coy and five co-conspirators put their escape plan into action. They beat a
guard, stole his keys, and started opening cells. Coy managed to squeeze into the gun
gallery. But then the plan went wrong. The key ring didn't have the one needed to open
the cell block. The convicts had weapons but couldn't go anywhere.
Finally, the alarm sounded, and for the next 48 hours, "the Battle of Alcatraz" raged.
Coy fired on the guards. The military showed up and launched grenades at the building.
On May 4, guards finally stormed the cell block. In the end, three of the six convicts
were dead, and two others would get the death penalty for their part in the escape. As for
the guards, 12 were wounded, and two were killed.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more fascinating GRUNGE history
lessons are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't
miss a single one.