Alcatraz Library

The Occupation of Alcatraz (November 20, 1969 – June 11, 1971) was a 19-month long protest when 89 Native Americans and their supporters occupied Alcatraz Island. The protest was led by Richard Oakes, LaNada Means, and others, while John Trudell served as spokesman. The group lived on the island together until the protest was forcibly ended by the U.S. government. The protest group chose the name Indians of All Tribes (IAT) for themselves. IAT claimed that, under the Treaty of Fort Laramie between the U.S. and the Lakota tribe, all retired, abandoned, or out-of-use federal land was to be returned to the Indigenous peoples who once occupied it. As Alcatraz penitentiary had been closed on March 21, 1963, and the island had been declared surplus federal property in 1964, a number of Red Power activists felt that the island qualified for a reclamation by Indians. The Occupation of Alcatraz had a brief effect on federal Indian Termination policies and established a precedent for Indian activism. Oakes was shot to death in 1972, and the American Indian Movement was later targeted by the federal government and the FBI in COINTELPRO operations.

Alcatraz Island () is a small island 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison. In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, and the prison became one of the most notorious in American history. The prison closed in 1963, and the island is now a major tourist attraction. Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of Native Americans, initially primarily from San Francisco, who were later joined by AIM and other urban Indians from other parts of the country, who were part of a wave of Native American activists organizing public protests across the US through the 1970s. In 1972, Alcatraz was transferred to the Department of Interior to become part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. Today, the island's facilities are managed by the National Park Service as part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Visitors can reach the island by ferry ride from Pier 33, located between the San Francisco Ferry Building and Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. Hornblower Cruises, operating under the name Alcatraz Cruises, is the official ferry provider to and from the island. Alcatraz Island is the site of the abandoned federal prison, the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States, early military fortifications, and natural features such as rock pools and a seabird colony (mostly western gulls, cormorants, and egrets). According to a 1971 documentary on the history of Alcatraz, the island measures 1,675 feet (511 m) by 590 feet (180 m) and is 135 feet (41 m) at highest point during mean tide. The total area of the island is reported to be 22 acres (8.9 ha).Landmarks on the island include the Main Cellhouse, Dining Hall, Lighthouse, the ruins of the Warden's House and Social Hall, Parade Grounds, Building 64, Water Tower, New Industries Building, Model Industries Building, and the Recreation Yard.

United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, also known simply as Alcatraz (English: , Spanish: [alkaˈtɾas] "the gannet") or The Rock, was a maximum security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The site of a fort since the 1850s, the main prison building was built in 1910–12 as a U.S. Army military prison. The United States Department of Justice acquired the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Pacific Branch, on Alcatraz on October 12, 1933. The island became adapted and used as a prison of the Federal Bureau of Prisons in August 1934 after the buildings were modernized and security increased. Given this high security and the island's location in the cold waters and strong currents of San Francisco Bay, prison operators believed Alcatraz to be escape-proof and America's most secure prison. The three-story cellhouse included the four main cell blocks – A-block through D-block – the warden's office, visitation room, the library, and the barber shop. The prison cells typically measured 9 feet (2.7 m) by 5 ft (1.5 m) and 7 ft (2.1 m) high. The cells were primitive and lacked privacy. They were furnished with a bed, desk, washbasin, a toilet on the back wall, and few items other than a blanket. African Americans were segregated from other inmates in cell designation due to racism during the Jim Crow era. D-Block housed the worst inmates, and six cells at its end were designated "The Hole". Prisoners with behavioral problems were sent to these for periods of often brutal punishment. The dining hall and kitchen extended from the main building. Prisoners and staff ate three meals a day together. The Alcatraz Hospital was located above the dining hall. Prison corridors were named after major U.S. streets, such as Broadway and Michigan Avenue, of New York and Chicago, respectively. Working at the prison was considered a privilege for inmates. Those who earned privileges were employed in the Model Industries Building and New Industries Building during the day, actively involved in providing for the military in jobs such as sewing and woodwork, and performing various maintenance and laundry chores. The prison closed in 1963, but Alcatraz was reopened as a public museum. The island and prison were occupied by Native Americans from 1969 to 1971. It is one of San Francisco's major tourist attractions, attracting some 1.5 million visitors annually. Now operated by the National Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the former prison is being restored and maintained.

In June 1962, inmates Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Late on the night of June 11 or early morning of June 12, the three men tucked papier-mâché heads resembling their own likenesses into their beds, broke out of the main prison building via ventilation ducts and an unused utility corridor, and departed the island aboard an improvised inflatable raft to an uncertain fate. A fourth conspirator, Allen West, failed in his escape attempt and remained on the island. Hundreds of leads were pursued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local law enforcement officials in the ensuing years, but no conclusive evidence has ever surfaced favoring the success or failure of the attempt. Numerous theories of widely varying plausibility have been proposed by authorities, reporters, family members, and amateur enthusiasts. In 1979 the FBI officially concluded, on the basis of circumstantial evidence and a preponderance of expert opinion, that the men drowned in the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay without reaching the mainland. The U.S. Marshals Service case file remains open and active, however, and Morris and the Anglin brothers remain on its wanted list.New circumstantial and material evidence has continued to surface, stoking new debates on whether the inmates managed to survive.

Alcatraz Dining Hall, often referred to as the Mess Hall, is the dining hall of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary where the prisoners and staff ate their meals. It is a long wing on the west end of the Main Cellhouse of Alcatraz, situated in the center of the island. It is connected to the block by a corridor known as "Times Square", as it passes beneath a large clock approaching the entrance way to the dining hall. This wing includes the dining hall and the kitchen beyond it.

Alcatraz Hospital is a defunct hospital which was located on Alcatraz Island, California, US. It began operations in the 19th century while the United States Army operated Fort Alcatraz and continued to provide services after the transition to the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Though Alcatraz is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the hospital is not included on the general tour.

Fort Alcatraz was a United States Army coastal fortification on Alcatraz Island near the mouth of San Francisco Bay in California, part of the Third System of fixed fortifications, although very different from most other Third System works. Initially completed in 1859, it was also used for mustering and training recruits and new units for the Civil War from 1861 and began secondary use as a long-term military prison in 1868. Major improvements, needed because of changes in artillery, began in the 1870s, but were underfunded and never fully completed, as the post came to be seen less as defense and more as a jail. The site was not used for any major works of the Endicott Board’s plan for the defense of the Bay. A large concrete prison block was erected between 1910 and 1912. In 1933–1934, this was modernized and became the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.

Alcatraz Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse—the first one built on the U.S. West Coast—located on Alcatraz Island in California's San Francisco Bay. It is located at the southern end of the island near the entrance to the prison. The first light house on the island was completed in 1854, and served the bay during its time as a Citadel and military prison. It was replaced by a taller (95 feet (29 m) above mean sea level) concrete tower built in 1909 to the south of the original one which was demolished after it was damaged due to earthquake in 1906. The automation of the lighthouse with a modern beacon took place in 1963, the year Alcatraz closed as the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. It is the oldest light station on the island with a modern beacon and is part of the museum on the island. Although when viewed from afar it easily looks the tallest structure on Alcatraz, it is actually shorter than the Alcatraz Water Tower, but as it lies on higher ground it looks much taller.

The Former Military Chapel (Bachelor Quarters) is a building on Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco, United States. It is located next to the Sally Port and Dock and the Building 64 residential apartments. It was built in the 1920s in the mission-revival style to accommodate for the officers at the military prison on the island. The ground floor had quarters for the officers and their families who worked at the military prison and the top floor was used as a school and chapel.In 1934, when Alcatraz became a Federal Penitentiary, the building was used as a Bachelor Quarters for unmarried officers.

The Warden's House was the home of the wardens of the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island, off San Francisco. It is located at the southeastern end of the Main Cellblock, next to Alcatraz Lighthouse. The 3-floor 15-room mansion was built in 1921 according to the Golden Gate National Recreational Area signpost, although some sources say it was built in 1926 or 1929 and had 17 or 18 rooms.After Alcatraz was converted into a federal penitentiary, between 1934 and 1963 the four wardens of Alcatraz resided here including the first warden, James A. Johnston. A house of luxury in stark contrast to the jail next to it, the wardens often held lavish cocktail parties here. The signpost at the spot shows a photograph of a trusted inmate doing chores at the house for the warden and that the house had a terraced garden and greenhouse. The mansion had tall windows, providing fine views of San Francisco Bay.Today the house is a ruin, burnt during the AIM (American Indian Movement) Occupation of Alcatraz on June 1, 1970. AIM tried to put out the flames, but a bucket brigade was inadequate.The Warden's house had a greenhouse. Working there and getting access was a high mark of trust and approval for an inmate.The slope below the Warden's House has been the subject of structural remediation as it was deteriorating.

The Recreation Yard was the yard used by inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary between 1934 and 1963. It is located adjacent to the Dining Hall northwest of the end of D-Block on a raised level surrounded by a high wall and fence above it. Guard Tower #3 lay just to the west of the yard. The gun gallery was situated in the yard, mounted on one of the dining hall's exterior walls. The recreation yard faced the mainland.

Barker Beach is a small beach and rocky coastal area on the west side of Alcatraz Island, off the coast of San Francisco, California. It lies south of the long two-story New Industries Building. During the foggy, early morning hours of Friday, January 13, 1939, five inmates - William "Ty" Martin (AZ-370), Henri Young (AZ-244), Rufus McCain (AZ-267), Dale Stamphill (AZ-435), and Arthur "Doc" Barker (AZ-268) - broke out of their D-Block cells and climbed out of a window that had its bars severed in advance, with the sabotage camouflaged with paint and putty. The five men made it to the water's edge and began to look for driftwood to build a raft. In the meantime, their absence was discovered and guards swarmed the island with rifles and machine guns. Dark figures were spotted on the western shore and guards opened fire. Stamphill was shot in the legs multiple times but recovered. Doc Barker was hit in the head and died several hours later. The remaining three inmates gave up immediately and were recaptured without injury. The beach was later named after Doc Barker by the National Park Service.