The cold steel flooring inside the isolation and segregation cells.
Another view of D Block. Note the door access panel to the left. The cells to the immediate left are two shower stalls. Inmates held in segregation were allowed two showers and one visit to the recreation yard per week.
Period Diagrams showing the state-of-the-art remote-controlled door access features.
The wrap-around Gun Gallery located in D Block. Note the rounded gun ports on each tier. This photograph shows the Gun Gallery in its modern form, with the armored panels that were installed following the 1946 mass escape attempt. Another view from the inside the Gun Gallery shows the door control panel.
D Block
The standard "Hole" cells were similar to the Strip Cell, and it included the five remaining dual-door cells on the bottom tier of D Block. These cells contained a sink and a toilet and were lit by a 25-watt light bulb. Inmates could spend up to nineteen days in this level of isolation, which was also considered to be a severe punishment by the general population of inmates. The mattresses were taken away during the day and the inmate was left in a state of constant boredom and severe deprivation. Guards would sometimes open the small cover on the solid steel outer door, to admit light for inmates who were serving their time in solitary peacefully. Some inmates claimed that the policies by prison staff on confinement were not followed and applied indiscriminately. Former inmate, Robert Luke (1118-AZ) claimed during interviews that he had been placed in a strip cell for 29-days and was given only bread and water, and on every third day, a raw onion, a potato and peas.
The remaining thirty-six segregation cells were similar in design to the cells of the general population. One exception was that all of the cells in D Block had steel floors, ceilings and walls for greater security. The West Gun Gallery officer operated the door mechanisms for the cells along the bottom tier from a remote control panel located in the secure gallery. The Bureau of Prisons described these facilities as follows:
A special treatment unit called D Block, is walled off from the rest of the institution for the housing of those few prisoners who must be kept locked in their cells at all times except for certain periods of exercise in the yard. In this unit some of the cell doors are operated electronically but are controlled by the cell house officer and the officer in the gun gallery working together. When a door is to be opened, the cell house officer pushes the appropriate button in his control box and then signals to the officer in the gallery. The latter then presses an electronic button in his control box, which opens the door.
Inmates held in segregation were allowed only one visit to the recreation yard and two showers per week; the remaining time was spent in their cells. All meals in segregation were served in the cells and the only means of psychological escape was through reading. Many inmates considered the city views from D Block to be an additional form of torment. Former inmate James Quillen later recounted that inmates could frequently hear tourist cruise boat narrators talking about the prison as they passed by. On New Year’s Eve, the laughter from the shoreline Yacht Club could be heard sharply inside the inmate cells when the window vents were left open. Quillen would recall that a strange calm would blanket the cellblock as the inmates lay in their bunks listening to the sounds of distant voices. Pleasure boats would pass the island resonating feminine laughter. In many cases, the prisoners hadn’t seen or heard a woman’s voice during the entire period of their incarceration, except when watching movies in the prison theatre. The sounds and sights of freedom were so near, and yet so far...
Perhaps one of the most notable inmates to serve time in D Block was a fifty-two-year-old convict named Robert Stroud (a.k.a., the Birdman of Alcatraz). Stroud was one of the few inmates to be placed directly into Alcatraz's Segregation Unit, bypassing the standard quarantine process. Stroud spent seventeen years on Alcatraz and was never introduced into the general population. Like Al Capone, Stroud had enjoyed many privileges not extended to fellow inmates during his previous residence at Leavenworth, and he lost them all when he came to live out the rest of his life in solitary confinement at Alcatraz.
Religious Services and Education
The Alcatraz Prison Chapel, located in the upstairs auditorium. The Chapel was built almost entirely by the inmates themselves.
Father Clark (at left) standing at the altar inside the Prison Chapel.
Like every other benefit at Alcatraz, attending religious services was considered an earned privilege and not a right. In the early years, inmates who chose to attend religious services forfeited an equal amount of recreation time. The administration felt that the inmate population would attend services just to have time outside of their cell. Warden Johnston later relaxed this rule and interestingly enough, this did not increase attendance at any of the services. The religious services were held in the upstairs auditorium where inmates usually enjoyed watching motion pictures.
A 1949 Easter Sunday service program from Alcatraz.
A service program showing a reading led by Bonnie and Clyde’s former chauffeur, Floyd Hamilton.
A contemporary photograph showing the entrance to the Chapel from the administration area.
Separate services were provided for the prisoners of various denominations. The Pastor of the Calvary Presbyterian Church of San Francisco held Protestant services in the chapel on the first and third Sunday of the month. A priest from St. Anne's Church in San Francisco conducted Catholic services on the second and fourth Sunday of every month. And on some occasions, a visiting Rabbi and members of the Jewish Committee on Personal Service held Jewish services.
The Chaplains, or “Sky Pilots” as inmates commonly referred to them were permitted to make Saturday visits to the recreation yard with the prisoners. The Chaplain would spend his time offering personal counsel to those who sought assistance. The resident Chaplain (a position that was established in 1936) was also granted an active seat on the Classification Committee. This committee was comprised of senior correctional officers, chief medical officer and the Warden. The committee reviewed the progress of each inmate and recommended programs to help in their rehabilitation. The most famous inmate to assume the role of altar boy was Machine Gun Kelly and he held the position for several years. The Chaplain also assisted in facilitating and providing oversight of the educational programs for inmates. A Bureau of Prisons bulletin offered inmates various programs in which to enrolclass="underline"