I can remember lying on my bunk with my eyes closed, and dreaming that I was at this baseball game with my gal. I could imagine all of the sights and smells of the hotdogs and the summer breeze in the stadium. Those headphones were my escape to another world.
The Recreation Yard
Comparison photographs showing the recreation yard in August 1934 before the cement bleachers were constructed, and a present-day view with the bleachers. Numerous inmates enjoyed sitting high atop the cement bleachers to enjoy the beautiful panoramic scenery of the San Francisco Bay.
Inmates in the recreation yard playing the card game Bridge, which was the most popular pastime among the prison population. Specially marked wooden dominos were used to replace standard playing cards, since the cellulose coating was a flammable substance which could be used as an explosive. Dominos were also better suited to the prevalent wind conditions common in the San Francisco Bay.
Inmates playing handball in December of 1954. Note the painted wall markings identifying the court boundaries.
Armed officers supervised inmates from the perimeter catwalks during weekend recreation periods. The general population inmates were permitted two visits per week (on Saturday and Sunday) to the recreation yard, weather permitting. There were a variety of activities available to the inmates during their recreation period. They could play baseball, handball, or volleyball, or simply walk the yard for exercise.
A correctional officer is seen standing atop the bleachers, looking out over the recreation yard.
The recreation yard at Alcatraz was considered a sacred place among the inmates. The yard was a cement-enclosed area with thick twenty-foot walls, and a perimeter catwalk for armed officers. The general population inmates were allowed recreation time in the yard on weekends, ordinarily a 21/2-hour visit on Saturdays and Sundays. Inmates who were confined to the Treatment Unit were allowed one weekly visit, lasting only one hour. These inmates would sometimes be allowed to visit with one or two others who were also serving time in segregation.
Inmates lived for the yard. It was the only escape from the daily routine of reform. Morton Sobell, the famed co-defendant of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, would later recount a vivid memory of country music being amplified through the recreation yard. He commented that his leisure time in the yard was almost sacred, and that he never missed a visit for the first three years of his imprisonment. He would also describe the unusual beauty of the prison’s position in the San Francisco Bay in his personal memoir entitled On Doing Time:
... standing on the top of the steps leading down to the prison yard I saw the Golden Gate in all its splendor. It was magnificent, as I absorbed the view I thought to myself, “I will never have such a magnificent view in any other prison.” Prison notwithstanding, I enjoyed it until the day I left. The distant green hills, and the soaring towers of the bridge, with graceful catenary suspended between them, always lifted my spirits.
The recreation period also offered participation in several sports, as well as card games that were played using Tonk brand Dominos in place of standard decks. Playing Bridge was the favorite pastime. Former inmate Jim Quillen stated:
These guys were fanatical about bridge and they knew all of the conventions. The Alcatraz library stocked various Culbertson books, and they memorized them cover-to-cover. They dreamed about Bridge. It was all some of these men thought about. The expert Bridge players held a very special status amongst this circle of inmates. These men caused little trouble to the guards, and always followed the rules to the letter so they could compete.
Inmates could also play shuffleboard, handball or softball. The prison rules differed slightly from the standard regulations with shorter innings, and balls hit over the wall were considered as an out. Fights were commonplace in the yard, whether they were initiated during line-up for the industry details or during recreation periods; the yard could be a violent place. Softball bats were favored weapons and knives were frequently smuggled into the yard as well. With loaded machine guns and high-powered rifles, guards paced back and forth along the perimeter wall catwalks, watching over the inmates. This was a powerful reminder that stepping out of line could be fatal.
Some inmates simply took their time outdoors to connect with the outside world by walking around the yard with friends and smelling the salt ocean air. They would occasionally watch the tour boats cruising the Bay from the yard bleachers, and sometimes they could even smell the aroma of the chocolate and coffee factories on the mainland.
The Mess Hall
A photograph from 1950 showing inmates entering the Mess Hall, nicknamed by prisoners as the “Gas Chamber.” Note the dual locking mechanisms on the open steel barred gate. The redundant lock system included both a remotely controlled electric mechanism and a manual key lock. It took two officers to control access in and out of the Mess Hall.
Inmates marched into the Mess Hall and lined up for their food in the order of their cell assignments.
The floors at Alcatraz were always polished to a glowing shine.
Paul Ritter was known by fellow inmates as the “Brew Master.” He was said to be an expert at making alcoholic beverages.
Inmates filing past the steam tables. Prisoners were allowed to fill their trays with as much food as they wanted, but under strict orders that no waste would be permissible.
The Mess Hall was considered the most dangerous section of the prison for correctional officers. The unarmed floor officers had to supervise almost the entire prison population within a single area. Eating utensils, steak bones, and steaming hot coffee were only a few of the items that could be used as makeshift weapons.
One of the fourteen permanently fixed teargas dispensers in the Mess Hall.
The remote control panel switches used to discharge the fixed teargas canisters in the Dining Hall. The gas release panel was located on the exterior catwalk, from which the officer on duty was able to observe all interior activities in safety.
A photograph of the caged exterior gun gallery and catwalk. The gas release panel was located inside this enclosure.
The Steward’s office inside the prison kitchen, with an officer seated at the desk.
Warden Swope seen in the background inspecting the main kitchen area.
The officers eating area inside the Mess Hall.
Inmate Darwin Coon working inside the bakery.
The interior of the kitchen in 1934.
Knife and utensil storage cabinet.
On holidays, inmates enjoyed special menus and live music played by the prison ensemble.
The inmate orchestra, known as the “Rock Islanders.” This 1949 photograph shows orchestra leader Lloyd Barkdoll (front left) and John Bayless (back right), two of the many men who attempted to escape from Alcatraz.
Prison administration photographs showing before and after images of the Dining Hall, following the 1961 purchase of newer cafeteria-style tables. Former inmate Darwin Coon indicated that the new dining fixtures were extremely popular amongst the prisoner population.
A present-day view of the prison Dining Hall.
The Officers’ Dining Room, located upstairs and across from the prison Chapel and Auditorium.
Inmates (seen here in uniform) worked as stewards in the Officers’ Dining Room.
Inmate Theodore “Blackie” Audett serving “Jailhouse Chili” in the officers’ kitchen.
Warden Madigan is seen greeting an officer’s family member inside the Officers’ Dining Room. Inmate Theodore Audett (one of the stewards) is seen here assisting Madigan.
Alcatraz Barbershop
The dining area, or “Gas Chamber” as the inmate population referred to it, was considered the most dangerous section of the prison. Nearly the entire prison population (with the exception of D Block inmates) would assemble into one space, which could mean a congregation of more than 300 inmates at one time. For this reason, tableware was issued to inmates on a need only basis. This was a critical element in minimizing inmates’ acc
ess to potential weapons, because sharp eating utensils and even food could be used in this way. Hot coffee could be used to incapacitate an opponent with burns, and the sharp bone from a T-bone steak could easily be used like a knife. All of the cooking and cutlery tools were kept in locked cabinets and carefully guarded. Butcher knives were all stored in a wooden case with painted silhouettes behind the utensils, so that guards would quickly notice if anything was missing.
To maintain order, fourteen fixed teargas dispensers were permanently mounted on ceiling structure beams. The switches used to discharge the toxic gases could be remotely operated by a guard stationed on the exterior catwalk, who was able to observe all interior activities from a secure position. The Armory officer also had control of two of the dispensers in the entrance area. Former inmate Jim Quillen stated that the mere threat of “being gassed by a screw” seemed to have a quieting effect on most of the inmate population.
At mealtimes, inmates entered the Mess Hall and stood in a single serving line, and then seated themselves by order of their cell assignment. The men were seated side by side at bench tables, with five places set on each side. This system was replaced in 1961, and from then on small cafeteria-style tables allowed inmates to sit with whomever they wanted, with only four places at a table. After Warden Johnston abolished the rule of silence in 1937, the inmates were allowed to talk quietly among themselves at their tables during meals. In the early years of the prison, inmates had been required to wear special pocket-less coveralls to minimize the concealment of contraband, but this rule also was later lifted. The officer positioned in the West Gun Gallery had a large rifle port that allowed him to supervisor activities, and also to represent a show of force.
Quality food was considered an essential right, and the food at Alcatraz was considered the best in the entire prison system, with menus prepared under the supervision of civilian stewards. Inmates were allowed to fill their trays with as much food as they wanted, but under strict order that no waste would be permissible. They were not allowed to rise from their tables until all of the eating utensils were counted and reckoned. At the end of each meal, the utensils would be passed to the end of the table for counting by the officer on duty. Once the count was confirmed, the men would rise in unison and then walk in military formation back to their cells.
During the Christmas season, inmate Morton Sobell recalled that Bing Crosby’s White Christmas was amplified throughout the cellhouse and the Dining Hall would be decorated. After the breakfast meal on Christmas Day, the inmates would each receive a care package from the Bureau of Prisons. In a report to the Bureau Director on December 25, 1942 it was stated that every inmate had received the following package, at a total cost of only .62 cents per inmate:
2 packages of filtered cigarettes
1 Uno Chocolate Bar and 1 Baffle Bar
3 Cellophane bags of salted peanuts
1/2 Lb. bag of hard candy
1 Package of Fig Newton’s, 17 cookies to a package
On select holidays, the prison band would entertain the inmates. Quillen remembered that on every Fourth of July, T-bone steaks would be served along with a carbonated beverage such as Coca Cola and apple pie for desert. In his memoir On the Rock, former inmate Alvin Karpis recalled the first Christmas tree at Alcatraz in 1948:
As I file into the dining hall this morning, I witness a sight never before seen inside these walls. Her soft scent, which has not aroused my nostrils for more than twelve years, reawakens strange emotions long forgotten. In the middle of the mess hall stands the first Christmas tree ever to be erected at Alcatraz.
The culinary detail was a prime work assignment for inmates. The men on this detail were allowed daily visits to the recreation yard, and were allotted daily showers if requested. It was a non-paying assignment, but inmates serving life or unusually lengthy sentences didn’t seem to mind. At Alcatraz, “lifers” had no use for money. Inmates assigned to the culinary detail were also granted benefits that were not always available even to the correctional staff. Alvin Karpis described the access to “unlimited food, ” commenting: “we have our choice of the food supplies and can prepare appetizers whenever we crave them rather than being regimented to strict meal hours like the general population or the guards.” Karpis would also claim that the kitchen detail was a haven for sexual encounters among the inmates. He indicated that the basement was a “labyrinth of vegetable rooms, showers, freezers, and storerooms, where... delights are exchanged frequently and freely.” In the best-selling classic Escape from Alcatraz, J. Campbell Bruce describes the acquisition of alcoholic beverages at Alcatraz:
... generally the inmates had to make their own booze and the best place for such an illicit operation was the bakery in the basement beneath the kitchen. Here the yeasty aroma of a fermenting brew was so akin to that of rising dough that the making of pruno [an exotic prison homemade cocktail] went undetected for a long time... The recipe was simple: put raisins and other dried fruit to soak in a crock, add yeast to speed up the fermentation, and cover the crock with flour sacks. The bakers realizing they had a good thing going, drank in moderation, an aperitif before meals.
Former inmate Darwin E. Coon was also assigned to the kitchen during his incarceration on The Rock, and he recalled some of the special meals inmates were served at Alcatraz in his memoir Alcatraz – The True End of the Line:
Whenever the inmates saw the chef’s meal on the menu board, they knew that they were in for a special dinner. We usually had a chef’s meal about once every three months... Some of the really special meals that I remember were when the striped bass were running in the Bay. The officers caught them by the wheelbarrow load and wheeled them into the kitchen. The cooks cleaned and cooked them and the inmates got all the fish he could eat. We would stuff the small ones, one to two pounders, with a nice gumbo and bake them. The bigger ones were cut into steaks and fried. The bass run would last about a month and since Friday was traditionally fish day, we could have four or five of these fish meals.
Coon would also remember a group of inmates that were nicknamed the “animals.” These men had appalling eating habits, and would always sit at the same table in the Mess Hall. Coon recalled that when these men entered the hall, they would be booed by all of the other inmates.
Warden Edwin Burnham Swope: 1948-1955
Edwin B. Swope was appointed as the second Warden of Alcatraz in April of 1948.
Warden Swope was known as a tough taskmaster and strict disciplinarian. But despite his authoritarian reputation, he also initiated a variety of inmate reform programs. He is seen here in a meeting with staff members.
Swope facilitating a meeting with his supervisory staff.
Warden Swope and his wife sitting in the rounded parlor of the Warden’s mansion at Christmas in 1954.
On April 30, 1948, Edwin B. Swope was appointed as the new Warden of Alcatraz at fifty-nine years of age. He would replace Warden Johnston, who had reached the mandatory retirement age of seventy-four. Swope carried a tough reputation as a strict disciplinarian. When the newspapers discussed how he would approach his new position, he would comment: “It will be different alright.” Swope was a believer in reform and he held to the concept of creating a structured plan for inmates to follow. He was firm and strict, and he had his own vision of how to deal with incorrigible inmates.
Swope was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on May 6, 1888, and he left a political career to enter the prison service. He had served as the New Mexico State Democratic Chairman, the State Land Commissioner, and later as a County Treasurer. While working as the Albuquerque City Commissioner in the 1920’s, Swope became appalled at the horrific conditions in the city jail. He made the decision to take up prison work, and to help develop strict programs that would successfully reform inmates in a humane environment. During one interview with the press in April of 1948, just before taking his new assignment, Swope would be quoted as saying:
Alcatraz is the supreme end of a criminal career. Al
catraz gets all of the rotten apples out of the barrel. If one can get a new seed to grow from those rotten apples, they’re on the right track.
Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years Page 14
