The hours of labor, except for such men as cooks and bakers, are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with one hour for the noonday meal and Saturday afternoon and Sunday off. The prisoners rise at 6 a.m. and go to bed at 9 p.m. Their work varies. Many are engaged in rock quarrying, road building construction and farming. A large number work in the prison itself as clerks, cooks and janitors. In conformity with the mission of the institution to prepare prisoners for their return to civil life by teaching them trades, a number of industries are operated for this purpose. A few of these trades are furniture making, tailoring, book making and printing. In all, there are fifty trades open to the ambitious prisoner.

Lest the picture of the prisoner’s life seem too roseate let us turn to the other side of the picture. The prisoner, for long, weary months, is under a strict, never ceasing discipline, under which every lapse brings some punishment. He is cut off from all communication with his relatives and friends, except that for one hour weekly his relatives may visit him. Day after day, night after night alluring freedom spreads itself before his eyes across the narrow bay. Narrow it may be, but a gulf to the prisoners, as some of them have discovered, to their cost, in trying to escape by swimming. The city is so close that its sounds and sights are a constant reminder of the freedom that has been lost.

Fremont Older, president and editor of the San Francisco Call Bulletin, seemed to concur with Stewart when he visited the island during the same year.  In a 1930 newspaper editorial, he described Alcatraz as one of the cleanest and best-run prisons in the world. He wrote in part:

It hasn’t the atmosphere, nor the feel of a prison. It is a clean, wholesome place and the five hundred young men who are temporarily abiding there seem more like students in a training school than men convicted of crimes. Alcatraz, being an island, where escape is practically impossible, it is not necessary to have many gunmen in evidence. I saw only two or three of these strolling about with shotguns. The cells where the men sleep are the most comfortable I have ever seen. They are spotlessly clean, contain a wash stand with running water, a flushing toilet, and a spring bed with a regulation army mattress, as many as eight army blankets, if desired, and a pillow and clean pillow case. Each cell has an electric light.

The food is excellent, as good, I should think, as the average soldier’s mess. There is a theatre with a show six nights in the week, a library containing twelve thousand well-selected books, and a playground for tennis and handball. The prisoners all wear a cheerful look and their behavior is excellent. Many of them are at work in the vocational department where trades are taught them. Twenty-six care for the vegetable gardens on Angel Island, and raise sufficient fresh vegetables for the entire prison.

Since January 1, 1915, up to the first of last January, 8,495 men have passed through this prison. Out of that number 1,609 have been restored to the colors without a black mark. Five hundred and forty paroled men should be subtracted from those figures; also ten percent should be deducted for men who didn’t care to return to the army. Those who are interested in prison reform should visit the disciplinary barracks at Alcatraz.

But despite these glowing reports, the public disliked having an Army prison as a sterile focal point seated right in the middle of the beautiful San Francisco Bay. In order to soften the island’s appearance, the military made arrangements to have soil from Angel Island brought over and it was spread across the barren acreage of Alcatraz. The Army trained several prisoners as gardeners, and planted several varieties of flowers and foliage. The California Spring and Wild Flower Association made contributions of top-grade seeding for plants ranging from rose bushes to lilies. The residents enjoyed tending their gardens and it was said that the landscape work assignments were among the most favored by the prisoners.

Over the decades the prison's routine grew increasingly more relaxed, and recreational activities became more prevalent. In the late 1920's prisoners were permitted to build a baseball field, and even to wear their own baseball uniforms while playing.

Military prisoners at work in the Cobbler Shop.

Prisoners in the Barbershop in the prison basement. Note the shaving mugs lined up along the walls. Each inmate was provided with their own shaving mug for sanitary purposes.

On Friday nights the Army hosted "Alcatraz Fights" featuring boxing matches between inmates selected from among the population of the Disciplinary Barracks. These fights were popular, and they often drew visitors from the mainland who had managed to finagle an invitation. These boxing matches became such an attraction that sold-out arena events were held at Fort Mason, sponsored by local businesses. Patrons received event programs that included business advertisements and listings of the inmates’ weight classes.

In 1934 the Military decided to close the prison due to the high cost of operation, and ownership shifted to the Department of Justice. The Great Depression had become the root of a severe crime surge during the late 20's and 30's, and this gave birth to a new era of organized crime. The gangster era was in full swing, and the nation was a helpless witness to violent crime waves brought on by the twin forces of Prohibition and desperate poverty. The nation watched in fear as influential mobsters and sharply dressed “public enemies” exercised their considerable influence on metropolitan cities and their authorities. Law enforcement agencies were often ill-equipped to deal with the onslaught and would frequently cower before better-armed gangs in shoot-outs and public slayings.

J. Edgar Hoover had been appointed as Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1921, and in 1924 he would take over as the Director. This was a position he would hold until his death in 1972. It has been written that Hoover exercised immense power and was a persuasive politician. Together with Attorney General Homer Cummings, Hoover waged a public war against the American gangster and petitioned for establishment of a “super prison.”  Future inmates at Alcatraz would later call their home “Hoover’s Heaven.”  A sentence to Alcatraz would come to be seen as the maximum penalty for crime short of execution, and it was reserved for the most violent, predatory, and relentless criminals of the era.

A program cover from one of the many “Alcatraz Fights” events. Originally held in the prison Mess Hall, these fights became so popular that they would eventually develop into small stadium events held at Fort Mason.

A page from the “Alcatraz Fights” event program. Note the inmates’ names and weight classes, and the various advertisers.

The first known aerial photograph of Alcatraz, taken by the U.S. Army in 1920.

The Model Industries building was completed in the early 1930’s. It was an all-concrete, three-story factory building constructed entirely by inmate labor at a cost of only $15,000. Also shown is a modern-day view of how the building appears today.