Alcatraz

by David Ward

  While awaiting a response to the transfer request, the Leavenworth staff asked that Hamilton be sent to the Atlanta Penitentiary, due to the inadvisability of confining in the same prison two such dangerous co-defendants. Bureau headquarters, however, decided that Walters and Hamilton should be given a trial period of six months to determine if they could “adjust.” Within a few weeks, however, an inmate reported to the deputy warden that Walters and Hamilton had approached him because of his knowledge of chemistry. They had wanted to know about materials, such as sulfur and saltpeter, that could be used to construct bombs and shotgun shells. According to the inmate, Walters and Hamilton intended to construct a shotgun in the machine shop and they wanted him to make the shells as well as sixteen bombs that would be used to blow their way out the front gate and to destroy the guard tower in the front of the prison.

  When further information was received in the warden’s office that Walters and Hamilton were also casing the truck entrance to the prison, where they were planning another attempt to break out in which they would conceal themselves in a truck carrying sawdust out of the prison, the Leavenworth staff again appealed to Bureau headquarters for permission to transfer both men to Alcatraz. This time their request was approved.

  Many more men imprisoned on Alcatraz during the period when lawbreakers were called “public enemies” and James Johnston ruled as warden had notable criminal or prison records. Including biographical sketches of all of them here would fill the remaining pages of this book. Once they were locked up together on the island in the San Francisco Bay, big questions faced Attorney General Homer Cummings, Bureau of Prisons Director Sanford Bates, and Warden James Johnston. How would this unique collection of prisoners react to a regime designed to tightly control them? How would these prisoners get along with each other? How would Alcatraz achieve the level of punishment for serious offenders that the public was demanding?

  4

  THE PROGRAM

  Since Alcatraz opened to the public in 1973 as an attraction managed by the National Park Service, millions of visitors have walked through the cell house, looked into the small cells for a few moments, and viewed the mess hall and yard, all the while trying to imagine the experience of doing time on the Rock. Visiting the prison is one way to obtain some insight into what it was like to be an Alcatraz prisoner; another is to read the words of former Alcatraz inmates and guards as they describe life on the island. Although nearly all the inmates and employees from the gangster years are now deceased, transcripts of the author’s interviews with some of these men provide first-person accounts. These commentaries, along with prison records, are the basis for the following description of daily life under one of the most restrictive regimes in American penal history.

  On arrival at Alcatraz, inmates were told, “you are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else that you get is a privilege.”1 This statement meant that an inmate’s basic needs would be met, and if he obeyed the simple rules, he could leave his cell to eat, work, and spend a few hours in the yard or attend chapel on weekends. He was allowed to write and receive a few letters and have one visit a month from his wife or blood relatives. Through it all he could try to establish a record of conduct good enough to earn a transfer back to Leavenworth or Atlanta or McNeil Island. In those prisons the comparative abundance of privileges and activities, and the openness of daily life, made transferees feel as if they were returning to the free world. At Alcatraz inmates were expected to “go along with the program”—that is, to obey all rules and refrain from making any trouble for the staff.

  The strict regimen when the prison opened and throughout the 1930s was described by guard Robert Baker:

  We fed the inmates cafeteria style. They’d go in and put their food on a tray—you have to eat what you take, if you leave any, you don’t eat the next meal. It’s that simple. Then you go and sit ten to a table, five facing five. The blacks sat together. They had about twenty minutes to eat. A guard stood at the end of every table. When the inmates got up the guard counted the silverware—a knife, fork, and spoon for every man and then they all went out. The officers ate the same food.

  The yard was just dirt, later on we put in concrete steps where the inmates could sit. They played chess, handball, horseshoes, and bridge. They played bridge with dominoes because we wouldn’t give them cards.

  We were very very strict at first—their collars had to be buttoned up. At the beginning it was absolute silence and don’t give them a thing—no cigarettes, no chocolate, no candy, no hot water, no radio, no nothing. We had nothing to do with them. There was no school and there was nothing after 5 P.M. It was utter silence. If they refused to work you put them in the hole [disciplinary segregation].2

  ROUTINES OF DAILY LIFE

  The regime at Alcatraz was designed to prevent anything unusual or unexpected from happening. Daily life, therefore, was routinized, controlled, and monotonous. Each day began with a wake-up call at 6:30 A.M. By 6:50 inmates were to have cleaned up their cells, to have washed, dressed, and to be ready for count; at 6:55 they proceeded to the dining hall. The process by which inmates were to make their way to the dining hall was scripted in fine detail:

  Prisoners will stand by door facing out and remain there until whistle signal, during which time lieutenants and cellhouse men of both shifts will make count. When count is found correct, lieutenant will order unlock of doors. Whistle signal will be given by Deputy Warden or Lieutenant. All inmates will step out of cell, stand erect facing mess hall. Upon second whistle signal all inmates on each tier will close up single file upon the head man.

  Whistle signal. Lower right tier of Block #3 and lower left tier of Block #2 will move forward to the mess hall, each line followed in turn by their second and third tiers, then by the lower tier on the opposite side of their block, followed by the second and third tiers from that side. Block #3 line will move into the mess hall, keeping to the left side of the center of the mess hall; Block #2 line will go forward at the same time, keeping to the right side of the center of the mess hall; both lines proceed to the serving table, right line served from the right and will occupy tables on the right, left line served from the left side and will occupy tables on the left side of the mess hall.3

  In the dining hall, every aspect of the eating process was prescribed, from start time to posture:

  As each man is served he will sit erect with hands at his side until the whistle signal will be given for the first detail to begin eating. Succeeding details will follow the same procedure except that the signal to start eating will be given by the detail guard as soon as the last man in his detail is seated.

  Twenty minutes will be allowed for eating. Guards will remain in their designated positions until their details have finished eating. When prisoners have finished eating, they will place knives, forks, and spoons on their trays, knife on top of and at the left, fork in the center, and spoon on the right side of tray. They will then sit erect with hands down at side. After all in detail have finished eating, guard will walk to each table and see that all utensils are in proper place. He will then return to his position.4

  Prisoners picked up a tray and walked by food containers, directing inmate servers as to what they wanted. There was no limit on the amount of food the men could take, but they were required to eat everything they took or risk losing the next meal.5

  By 7:30 A.M. breakfast was over, and inside work crews proceeded to their assignments, while industry details lined up in the yard according to shop assignment. For a few minutes, workers could talk or smoke (roll your own cigarettes) until a whistle sounded, at which time they marched out through the yard gate in two ranks and proceeded down the steps to the shop areas. At 9:30 A.M. a rest period of eight minutes began during which inmates could smoke and go “one at a time” to toilets.

  At 11:15 A.M. work stopped, inmates marched back up to the cell house and their cells for another count, after which a twenty-minute period for lunch
was allowed; at 12:00 noon men reported to sick call or for interviews with the warden, deputy warden, mail clerk, or the chaplain; at 12:30 P.M. inmates marched back to work, where they stayed, with another eight-minute break, until the work day ended at 4:10. Inmates were back in their cells to be counted at 4:20, marched to supper at 4:25, and were back in their cells for a standing count at 4:50 P.M. For the next fourteen hours of each day they did not leave their cells. By the time the wakeup bell woke them up the next morning, inmates had been subjected to fourteen counts in the previous twenty-four hours:

  6:30 A.M.

  Wake-up call

  6:50 A.M.

  Count

  6:55 A.M.

  Line up for march to dining hall

  7:00 A.M.

  Breakfast

  7:30 A.M.

  Proceed to work assignments

  9:30 A.M.

  Eight-minute rest period

  11:15 A.M.

  Morning work period ends, followed by count

  11:30 A.M.

  Dinner

  12:30 P.M.

  Proceed to work assignments

  2:50 P.M.

  Eight-minute rest period

  4:10 P.M.

  Afternoon work period ends

  4:20 P.M.

  Count

  4:25 P.M.

  Supper

  4:50 P.M.

  Return to cell

  Floyd Harrell provided an inmate’s perspective on the daily routine:

  On a weekday your day began about seven o’clock in the morning by the ringing of a bell. You were expected to get up, make up your bed, attend to your toilet, sweep up your cell. About fifteen or twenty minutes later another bell would ring and you were to stand at your door with your hands on the bars while the count was made. If the count was okayed, another bell would ring and you would wait for your particular cell block to be opened and you would proceed into the dining room for breakfast. After breakfast, if you were fortunate enough to have a job, you went out on the yard and lined up in certain places for the laundry, the tailor shop, and various other jobs, where you stayed until lunchtime. You went through the same procedure at lunch as at breakfast and then you went back to your job. You came back in for the evening meal with the same procedure. . . . After supper was over and the count was completed then you were free to do whatever you could do in your cell. That consisted primarily of reading.6

  Every weekday was virtually identical to the others (see table 1). Showers, issue of clean clothing, and shaving were the only regular activities that did not occur every day. Harrell described the shaving routine:

  Twice a week the same attendant [who delivered writing materials] came by your cell with a board with numbered cells on it; your razor blade was on this board; he left this blade on your cell door. You were given a short time to shave, with cold water, and then the attendant would come by and put your razor back on the board.7

  Weekends offered slight variations on the weekday routine. On Saturdays inmates could go to the small concrete yard from 12:40 to 4:10 P.M. On Sundays, the resident Protestant chaplain and Catholic chaplains who came over from the mainland held religious services in the small auditorium; these were attended by a handful of prisoners. After services, prisoners could be in the yard from 8:40 to 11:10 A.M. In the yard, they played softball, handball, and horseshoes, and those inclined to less active recreation found partners for dominoes, chess, or checkers, or just walked the yard. Movies were shown in the auditorium on the seven legal holidays each year.8 The policy regarding movies was that “they will not be used for entertainment but may be employed by the Warden for education and improvement of the inmates when he deems it advisable in the interest of good discipline.”9 Here is Harrell’s view of weekends:

  The weekend days were somewhat different; after breakfast you had a few hours in the yard as well as after lunch. You had a choice of playing handball or softball or bridge or walking up and down in the yard or sitting and talking with your friends. . . . There was one guard in the guard house and one walking the catwalk around the yard; they were there to break up fights and they usually broke up fights by firing down on the yard.

  Since a work assignment offered the only opportunity to be outside the cell for any significant period, it was a privilege that had to be earned. An inmate was first assigned a job that involved some routine maintenance task. Then, if his performance and behavior were “outstandingly good and of outstanding value to the institution,” he could be awarded meritorious good time and/or pay in addition to statutory good time; he could also be transferred to a job in the prison’s industries, which carried a small wage and extra good time, called “industrial good time.” For men without a job assignment—and this included anyone locked up in the disciplinary segregation units—there was little to relieve the boredom. According to Harrell, “the only thing they could do is sleep, read, or walk the floor.”

  Few inmates’ days on the island were interrupted by visits with attorneys; no caseworker or psychologist ever called them in to discuss their early childhood experiences, their criminal careers, their home life, or their problems with authority figures. Outside of FBI agents investigating crimes committed on the island and a very small number of official visitors approved to tour the cell house or work area, no outsider disturbed the daily routine. The activities that began in prisons during the 1960s and 1970s—attending class, going to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, the Toastmasters Club, or the black culture group, or attending individual or group counseling sessions—were never available on the Rock. No newspaper reporter or university criminologist called inmates out for interviews; the only conversations allowed with persons not employed by the federal prison system were with FBI agents or other legal authorities who wanted information, testimony, or confessions in other criminal cases. Except for three twenty-minute meals each day and work activities, there was little to disturb the monotonous routine on the island. As Harrell commented, “any day in Alcatraz was twenty-four hours of pure boredom.”

  With so much cell time, reading became the most common means of passing the hours. The Alcatraz library contained some ten thousand books, most of them left by the army. Inmates were not allowed to go to the library, but according to Harrell, “every prisoner had a catalog listing the books that were supposed to be in the library”; books selected would be delivered to, and picked up from, his cell. Newspapers were prohibited, ostensibly to remove the means by which the prison’s gang lords and notorious bandits could have their egos and reputations bolstered. Inmates could subscribe to certain magazines, such as Popular Mechanics, but because articles relating to crime were removed, the magazines were “often so mutilated by the censors they were practically useless.” When correspondence courses from the University of California became available, a small number of men signed up for them.

  EDUCATION AND RELIGION

  Reports from Protestant chaplain Wayne Hunter describe the inmates’ level of interest in correspondence courses and religious services offered on the island. In October 1936 forty-six men were listed as actively pursuing UC courses; another twenty were described as “enrolled but indifferent.” Most enrollees were taking English grammar or “shop arithmetic”; among those completing courses were Albert Bates, Ralph Roe, and Harmon Waley. Two months later, the chaplain reported that 17 percent of the inmate population was involved in various courses including new offerings in the rudiments of music, harmony, advanced shop mechanics, and beginning algebra. Elementary French and Spanish were added in 1937 and one course was dropped because it never had a single enrollee—“training for citizenship.”

  Chaplain Hunter was also responsible for the institution orchestra, library, and recreational activities including the baseball league, horseshoes, and handball. Men interested in music had to choose between going to the yard on weekends or practicing on musical instruments; kitchen workers were allowed to practice during afternoons. According to the chaplain, thirty inmates were interested
in “musical opportunities and of this number we have developed a 10 piece orchestra. The orchestra has played the three Sunday afternoon concerts thus far.”

  Hunter reported that the addition of a Catholic chaplain, Father Joseph M. Clark, increased biweekly attendance at Catholic services—from 33 on October 4 to 62 two weeks later. Protestant services attracted only 12 inmates on October 11 and 25. An April 2, 1937, report to Warden Johnston indicated that six men had attended Jewish services on March 27. A report in the same month to the Federal Council Committee on prison chaplains included the results of a survey of inmate religious preferences as Roman Catholic, 132, Protestant 131, Jewish 15, and 22 were listed as “no preference.”10

  In the April 7, 1937, report on prison chaplains, Hunter reviewed the programs and activities available to inmates at Alcatraz concluding, “The library is the most important part of the educational and welfare program in as much as reading is the only occupation of the larger percentage of the men during the evening hours. The library circulation for last month was 2045 books and 812 magazines. According to these figures, each man draws on an average of about seven books and three magazines per month. This does not take into consideration the private magazine subscriptions and book purchases.”

  ENFORCING A MONASTIC REGIMEN

  In addition to making the daily lives of inmates as predictable and routine as possible, the Alcatraz regime severely restricted the goods inmates were allowed to keep in their cells, their contact with the outside world, and their social interaction with each other. There were no evening programs or activities. Restrictions were intended to facilitate control of the inmate population and eliminate problems found in other prisons where association was allowed. Combined with the detailed scripting of daily life, serving time at Alcatraz was an experience that can be best described as monastic.