Inside the Rock: Web Exhibit Goes Behind the Scenes at the Iconic Prison

Because of its legendary history, Alcatraz is one of the most-visited places in the National Park System. The former federal penitentiary is famous for its high-profile alumni and dramatic setting in the middle of San Francisco Bay, a feature that earned it the name, “the Rock.” But there is more to the island’s story than the prison that operated there from 1934 to 1963.

Now–thanks to a new online exhibit developed by the Museum Management Program of the National Park Service and Golden Gate National Recreation Area–visitors get a virtual tour of the island’s many incarnations, illustrated with objects, documents, and photographs drawn from the park’s voluminous collections. It’s an intimate and instructive look at a place synonymous with notoriety and exile.

Little is known about the early story of Alcatraz; the history of the area’s indigenous peoples was unwritten, passed down in stories from generation to generation. The local Ohlone Indians could have fished and gathered eggs there and–according to legend–it may have been a sacred place. Though there are stories of the island as an area of banishment, some scholars consider them anecdotal.

The gold rush of 1849 transformed San Francisco from a tranquil settlement of 300 into a rapidly growing city–and a prime target for hostile navies. In 1859, the military built a fort on Alcatraz, one of the most formidable defensive installations west of the Mississippi. By the outbreak of the Civil War, the fortress was bristling with cannon and thickly fortified, and on the watch for Confederates too.

They never arrived, but the Army imprisoned deserters, insubordinate soldiers, and southern sympathizers. The crew of a captured rebel privateer was among the first inmates.

The early 1900s heralded the age of the great battleships, whose powerful, accurate guns rendered the fort’s defenses obsolete. Alcatraz became a full-time military prison in 1907.

In the exhibit, artifacts such as cartridge belts and binoculars are complemented by period photographs. Giant cannons leveled at the horizon, with prisoners breaking rocks, portray a grim isolation. Historic documents provide a touch of the personal, such as the record of one Charles Glover, imprisoned in 1904 for embezzlement and neglect of duty.

By 1934, Alcatraz had become too costly for the Army to operate, so it turned the place over to the Bureau of Prisons, which modernized it into a maximum security prison for high-risk criminals. Although authorities had considered an isolated site in Alaska, in the end Alcatraz was the final choice for the new prison.

Alcatraz was an experiment, the federal government’s response to post-Prohibition, post-Depression America. It was the first time troublesome inmates were isolated from the rest of the prison population on a large scale. The nation was appalled at each new outrage by the likes of Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, all of whom served time here. Their stays helped perpetuate the myth that the place was reserved for A-list offenders. In fact, they had plenty of less illustrious company. And Alcatraz was not packed beyond capacity, as is often the case with modern prisons. At its peak, it held 302 inmates.

The institution's 29 years as a federal pen make up the heart of the exhibit, which has sections on the prisoners, the correctional officers and their families, and the paraphernalia of incarceration. Visitors get the full experience of the site’s gloomy legend–with locks, handcuffs, weapons, mug shots, and billy clubs all viewable close-up.

The exhibit also explores the everyday business of Alcatraz, and how inmates passed their time within its walls. Compared to other federal prisons, Alcatraz was harsh. To minimize contact (and the potential for trouble), prisoners were housed one to a cell. Activities such as work, classes, or recreation were not a right, but privileges earned through good behavior.

A slide show examines the famous escape of 1962, in which Frank Lee Morris and John and Clarence Anglin disappeared without a trace. It’s all here–the fake heads that fooled guards into thinking beds were occupied; makeshift tools; and the Popular Mechanics magazines the escapees used as a reference to build a raft.

Officers, administrators, and clerks shared the isolation with the inmates. Employees and their families lived in government housing; children commuted to school by boat to San Francisco. Ninety officers staffed the prison, working three eight-hour shifts. There was a social club, a bowling alley, and a soda fountain–as much of the normalcy of mainland life as possible under the circumstances. In the words of one longtime staffer, it was like “a small town with a big jail.”

The officer section of the exhibit includes letters, personal effects, uniform insignia, testimonials, and other trappings of their lives. In one photograph, the teenage daughter of a staffer poses on a cannon from the island’s days as a 19th-century fortress.

Close-up photos of the famous such as Al Capone and Robert Stroud (the “Birdman of Alcatraz”) are also part of the exhibit. Items from the daily grind offer a view of Alcatraz as experienced by the inmates. The objects tell the story like no narrative can–from the homespun conveniences to the homemade weapons–complemented by a rich collection of correspondence, records, and administrative paperwork, all of which offer a unique view into the workings of the prison.

Visitors can go inside, as it were, panning around the cellblocks and zooming down the long corridors. The prison’s imposing tiers and blocks, preserved today by the National Park Service, still convey a strong sense of the inmate’s environment.

Concentrating the most difficult prisoners at Alctraz made it possible to maintain a less restrictive environment in other prisons. But by the early 1960s, the place was falling apart and getting more expensive to run. The Bureau of Prisons began shipping inmates off the Rock to other places. Alcatraz closed in 1963, but it wasn’t the end of its notoriety.

In 1969, a group of Native American protesters occupied the island for over a year and a half, symbolically claiming it for all Indian tribes. The move garnered international attention, which the Indians used to advertise the plight of their people. The episode was a catalyst for the burgeoning Indian movement. “Alcatraz encouraged young people to become themselves, as opposed to hiding their Indianness,” recalls Joseph Myers, a member of the Blackfoot tribe.

By 1971, there was conflict among the occupiers and waning interest. U.S. Marshals forced them to leave and Alcatraz was once again abandoned. The protesters left their mark, however, decorating the prison with political graffiti. The marks remain a strong evocation of the activist spirit of the time. They, too, are part of the online exhibit.

The island became part of the National Park System–a component of Golden Gate National Recreation Area–and the place that had long captivated the public’s imagination was no longer forbidden.

While there is no substitute for an actual adventure on the Rock, the inside story is now as close as the nearest computer.

The exhibit is online. The park’s website provides a comprehensive history of the island.