Alcatraz by David Ward Read Free Book Online Page B

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 facingfive. 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