the Midwest between 1931 and 1936. His flamboyant style of robbery and kidnaping
earned him the absolute wrath of J. Edgar Hoover. Karpis soon found himself with a new
title, that of Public Enemy No. 1, and his name was recognized throughout the country,
Avoiding capture for some fifteen months after the Barkers were apprehended, Karpis
was finally taken into custody in New Orleans on May first, 1936. By August of that
year, Karpis was residing on Alcatraz where he would spend the next 26 years,
transferred to USP-McNeil Island in April of 1962, and released from the federal prison
system via deportation to Canada in 1969. Leaving that country to assume residency in
Spain, Karpis committed suicide in 1979. The most complete media coverage to be
accorded an Alcatraz inmate was given to Robert Franklin Stroud. He was to gain world
wide attention and notoriety as the Birdman of Alcatraz, regardless of the fact he was not
permitted to continue his avian studies during his 17 years on the island. Following
incarceration in USP McNeil Island, where he was sentenced to 12 years for
manslaughter in 1909, Stroud was transferred to Leavenworth after serving only three
years. A history of violence dictated the move, and Stroud had been in Leavenworth less
than four years when he attacked and killed a custodial officer in front of better than
2,000 other inmates. His trial resulted in the death sentence, but was commuted to life
after his mother requested the intervention of President Wilson. Stroud’s hostile and
sometimes violent nature left prison administrators no choice but to keep him away from
other inmates and officers, and prison officials interpreted this to mean he should spend
the remainder of his life in segregation of some sort. The keeping of birds and the
studying of avian diseases gained international attention for Stroud, but it was also to
figure prominently in his ultimate transfer to Alcatraz. He began to openly violate prison
rules and regulations in favor of continuing his experiments and communications with bird
breeders and fanciers around the world. Stroud was literally packed up and moved out
in the middle of the night, with his destination being San Francisco. Arriving on Alcatraz
in 1942, he was to enjoy the company of fellow inmates within the confines of D Block
until there occurred a change in administration with the retirement of Warden James
Johnston and the arrival of Warden Ed Swope. The enigmatic Swope was not to be
challenged in any way by Robert Stroud and immediately moved him into a private room
in the prison’s hospital. Using ill health to justify the move, Swope was able to segregate
Stroud in such fashion that few, if any, were ever able to again see him. Genuine ill health
forced Stroud’s transfer to the Federal Medical Facility in Springfield, Missouri in 1959.
Four years after being received at the FMC, Stroud died of natural causes. The man
about whom the world knew, the man about whom books were written and films were
made was to be ignored in death as the date of his passing followed by one day the
assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. On the morning of his death, Stroud was
found by a fellow inmate who is probably more widely recognized on an international
scale than any other confined on Alcatraz – recognized not so much by his own name
than by the defendants with whom he was tried in 1951. Charged with conspiracy to
commit treason, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed at Sing Sing Prison in 1953,
and Morton Sobell was to arrive on Alcatraz the year before, 1952, and would spend
the next five years as the federal system’s most famous political prisoner. Sobell’s case
could easily be an example of J. Edgar Hoover’s influence. He simply did not fit the type
generally selected for incarceration on Alcatraz, but he most assuredly did meet the
criteria for the type particularly targeted by the FBI director. At this point, it is again
emphasized that the historic era must be given clear and serious focus, as the red witch
hunt for Communist subversives spread across the country, led by Joseph McCarthy a!
nd J. Edgar Hoover. Sobell alleged that Hoover dictated his placement in this maximum
security institution, and there really exists no denial regarding this allegation. Following the
five years inside Alcatraz, Sobell finished out the remainder of his sentence in USP
Atlanta for a total of eighteen and a half years out of the original thirty set forth by Judge
Irving R. Kaufman, Taken by the beauty of the Pacific and the Golden Gate, Sobell
expressed a desire to return to San Francisco when freedom was again his to enjoy.
Morton Sobellresides today in the city, and is part of the living history of Alcatraz. By
1962 the era on which the Federal Prison history of Alcatraz is predicated was coming
to an end. Times were changing and the Bureau of Prisons knew that they would have to
respond to that change. Alcatraz offered no concept of rehabilitation, and the bureau was
reconsidering its philosophy as it examines the pros and cons of warehousing as opposed
to rehabilitation. The physical structures on Alcatraz were indicating wear and tear that
would cost the government millions of dollars to upgrade to required security. Always an
expensive institution to operate, 1961 found the daily cost of inmate upkeep approaching
one-hundred dollars, and an overall cost for continuing operation at better than
six-million dollars. A new prison could and would be constructed at Marion, Illinois for
ten-million, so to continue incarceration of inmates on Alcatraz was economically
unsound. It is said that J. Edgar Hoover expressed displeasure at the closure of the
prison, but his decades-long power base could not stand up to the new attorney general
who made it quite clear to Hoover that a contrary decision had been made – a decision
that would be backed by the attorney general’s brother in the White House. On
Thursday, 21 March 1963, the end of an era arrived with the offic! ial closure of
Alcatraz. The population had been gradually reduced commencing in February, with the
final twenty-seven inmates taken off on the aforementioned date. For the first time in its
long and controversial history reporters were permitted on the island to cover the news
story that would make headlines across the country. “ALCATRAZ CLOSES!” In
looking for lessons to be learned from the operation of Alcatraz, lessons that can be
applied to our present society, one can only wonder as we examine overcrowded
prisons and the continuing attendant problems. Perhaps consideration should be given to
the prophetic words of a long ago Alcatraz prisoner, reflecting upon his plight: “Can
anything be worth THIS?” We can either learn from what valuable lessons that were
taught at alcatraz, or we can be ignorant and let it happen again. Alcatraz was considered
hostile, cruel, and unjust, and it was. But there was a lesson to be taught, now if we don’t
learn that human life is the most precious gift that we take for granted, then Alcatraz was
a good idea and it needs to be reinstated. But when you allow a man to lose his
freedoms that our forefather fought for, with impunity, it is simply the worst thing to
happen. Alcatraz was built for a good reason, it served for a good reason. Then it was
transformed into “The Rock.” Al! l the good that went into was lost. We as a country lost
sight of what was important to us, and now if we don’t learn from it, we are only asking
ourselves for it again. Bibliography 1. The Alcatraz WWW Homepage, Yahoo Search
Engine, 1996 2. Professor Clyde W. Richins, University of Michigan, 1990, Vol. 1 of “In
the life of Alcatraz” pages 1944- 46 3. Doctor William M. Hellem, Medical Physician on
Alcataz Island, 1983, Vol. 1 of “In the life of Alcatraz” pages 132-134 4.Lutenient
George R. Hendershaw, Guard that seved on Alcatraz Island,