Officers are seen standing in the former dungeon cells, located in the basement of the old Citadel.

The patchwork effect that can be seen on the ceiling frame and sides indicates the removal of brickwork and bars from the former cells.

The infamous so-called “Dungeons of Alcatraz” were the subject of countless news stories in the early years of the prison. The dungeons or “lower solitary” as they were referred to in inmate case files, consisted of eight cells located below A and D Blocks. Officer Robert Baker recalled that whenever inmates were subject to confinement in these harsh cells, the officers would purposely escort the inmate down the A Block steps, and then after a couple of days of confinement, bring the inmate back on the D Block side and into a segregation. This deceptive practice made fellow inmates believe that disciplinary cases that were thrown into the dungeon would be left there for months. It proved to be a considerable deterrent.

The basement “dungeon” cells were primarily used in only the most serious disciplinary cases, until 1938, when the cell fronts were finally dismantled. They would also become the focal point in the famous 1940 trial of Henri Young for the murder of fellow inmate Rufus McCain (this incident is chronicled in a later chapter). Warden Johnston would openly testify that Young and several other inmates had been confined in “lower solitary” for serious violations of various prison regulations. One of Young’s attorneys disputed this, emphasizing his contention that inmates were thrown into the dungeons for “trivial offenses,” though this was never proven.

It was alleged that inmates were placed into the dark dungeon cells without bedding, and without any form of lighting. These claims were later strengthened by former inmate Harmon Waley in later interviews. Waley had spent seven of his 22 years on the Rock in isolation or segregation.

In Young’s case, Johnston testified that the prisoner had been confined in the basement cells on at least three occasions, and was forced to sleep on the cement floors without any type of bedding or pillow. The cells had no running water or toilet, and inmates were forced to blindly use a bucket which would be emptied only once or twice a day. Waley claimed that some inmates would protest throwing the contents into the walkways where the officers would frequent. He indicated that the prison physician demanded the inmates be removed from these deplorable conditions, and later refused to enter the basement due to the stench.

The basement cells were damp and poorly ventilated. Warden Johnston described during trial testimony the “restricted diet” that inmates would be served during their stay in solitary confinement:

If a prisoner is placed in solitary in the morning, after he has had his breakfast, he is furnished bread at the noonday meal, and salads and one-fourth of the evening meal from the regular main-line menu. If he is placed in solitary in the afternoon, that is after he has had his full noonday meal, then he get only bread for the evening meal. 

In all cases the second day menu consists of a breakfast of cereal, milk and coffee; the noonday meal, bread and soup; the evening meal is one fourth of the allowance form the regular main line menu leaving out the soup but feeding the salad and greens and bread and the hot drink, whether it happens to be tea or coffee. 

On the third day a man in solitary receives the full dinner meal at noon, also the one quarter quantity, that is the light breakfast or cereal and milk and coffee and the light supper consisting of the salad and greens and bread and hot beverage, tea or coffee. 

If an individual is continued in solitary past the third day, then the fourth day is the same as that prescribed as the second day, the fifth day the same, and the sixth day he gets a full meal again at dinner and the light breakfast and light supper, just the same as the third day. 

Sometimes the menu is added to on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, even during the earlier stages of incarceration in solitary or isolation. When a prisoner is removed from solitary and it is thought necessary to keep him in open isolation for a longer period of time, he begins his time in isolation with one full meal and two light meals each day. If he is continued in isolation for more than a week, he is given two full meals and one light meal daily. If it is decided to keep him in isolation for a long period of time, he is given three full meals a day, the same as the main line.

The inmates in solitary would also be provided with a water basin that was always kept full under the Warden’s orders. Many of the inmates who testified during the Young trial, including Harold Brest, George Miller, Samuel Berlin, Burton Phillips, James Grove and Harmon Waley, all stated that they had served stretches ranging from seven to ten days without proper meals, living strictly on small portions of bread and water.

Alcatraz inmate Harold Brest being led to court to testify against conditions at Alcatraz.

George Miller

Harmon Waley

Names etched into the masonry walls by inmates confined in the dungeon cells.

Mug shots of Alcatraz inmate Jack Allen.

Edward Bearden

The use of solitary confinement at Alcatraz was put on trial again in another incident that is described in the official digest from the Young trial testimony transcript. Inmate Samuel Berlin testified that on this occasion, inmate Jack Allen had rattled his cup along his cell bars to gain the attention of a correctional officer. When the officers arrived, he explained that he was sick and needed a doctor. Berlin claimed that Allen was reprimanded for making excessive noise, and that when he again started yelling for a doctor, he was thrown into the Hole. He was heard by other inmates pleading for blankets, and was allegedly found dead fifty-two hours later. A letter explaining his death, submitted by Chief Medical Officer Dr. George Hess to the United States Surgeon General, only seemed to complicate the matter further. Their correspondence was entered as evidence in the trial, and the defense attorneys systematically illustrated how inmate Allen had been abandoned, which was said to have contributed to his death. The letter written by Hess to the Surgeon General on January 23, 1936 proved extremely detrimental to the administration’s case. It read:

I have the honor to present a resume of the case of Jack Allen, No. 211, an inmate of this institution who died on January 17, 1936.

On January 13, 1936, the above inmate named man called for the doctor. Doctor Jacobsen was on duty and responded to the call. After an examination of the patient the doctor decided that there was no acute pathology present but did give the man some medicine. He then instructed the guard on duty not to call him anymore about this case, that the patient would be all right.

At midnight the guard was changed and the retiring guard informed the new guard that the doctor did not care to be bothered anymore for this case.