The stationing of a military unit at Alcatraz also created a unique challenge for prison officers and their families as the young soldiers were integrated into the living arrangements of the island. They were provided access to the recreational facilities and as a result, several romances blossomed. The young soldiers were often idolized by many of the teenage daughters of correctional officers. Bergen would later comment that several officers were not shy when it came to establishing the “stone rules of dating their daughters.”  It was an exciting period for the teenagers, as the bowling alley and dance hall became popular hangouts on weekends.

With time, it became evident that the fear of enemy attack which had inspired the establishment of a military base on Alcatraz was not entirely unfounded. After the war, it would be confirmed that Japanese submarines had patrolled the waters and plotted attacks just outside of the San Francisco harbor.

The Prison Library

The Alcatraz Library contained over 15,000 volumes of fiction and non-fiction. Reading was the primary pastime for all inmates, especially between the idle hours of 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

The Culbertson’s series on playing Bridge was in high demand among inmates, and these books were always the most requested for reading. The library stocked multiple copies of each volume.

Inmates were permitted to purchase an Auto Bridge gaming device, which allowed them to play the game by themselves.

Radio jacks were installed in the cellhouse in 1955, when for the first time inmates were allowed to choose between two radio programs, which included sports and talk shows.

The library at Alcatraz contained over 15,000 books of fiction and non-fiction. Reading was the primary pastime for all inmates, especially between the idle hours of 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. There were few activities available to the inmates while they were confined to their cells. They could write letters to family members, smoke tobacco, do artwork, play a musical instrument (if approved), work a crossword puzzle, or play a game of chess or checkers with a neighboring inmate. In these games, each player maintained their own board and quietly called out each move to the player in the neighboring cell.

The inmates at Alcatraz were typically very well read. The average inmate in the general population would read seventy-five to a hundred books a year, not including periodicals and magazines. The reading materials at Alcatraz were heavily censored, and the subjects of sex and crime were strictly forbidden. Each inmate was provided with a full library catalog of available titles and could submit a weekly request slip to check out books. The general population inmates were never allowed to visit the library and browse through the collection. The cellhouse orderly filled requests by manually delivering the books on a pull cart. Several notable inmates, including Al Capone, Bernard Paul Coy, and Clarence Carnes all held this job assignment for a brief tenure during their incarceration at Alcatraz.

The resident Chaplain, who was also responsible for the content of the reading materials, generally supervised the prison library. The prison featured its own bookbindery and utilized a special catalog system. The library also included a music collection of nearly 1,000 records. A Federal Bureau of Prisons booklet published in 1960 described the reading habits of Alcatraz inmates:

... these men read more serious literature than does the ordinary person in the community. Philosophers such as Kant, Schopenhauer, Hegel, etc., are especially popular and their books have a wide circulation. Advanced mathematics and physics texts, too, are in great demand, as are other types of literature having to do with more profound aspects of our culture. The latest magazines and periodicals are furnished and enable men to keep abreast of current events in the free community.

In his memoir Alcatraz from the Inside, former inmate Jim Quillen described the most popular reading materials from an inmate’s perspective:

Culbertson’s Beginner’s Book of Bridge was beyond doubt the most desired and read book in the prison’s twenty-nine years of existence. When the Warden permitted “Auto Bridge” (a device where an inmate could play a game by himself) to be ordered, it was to some inmates like Christmas had happened twice in one year.

The most popular magazine subscriptions were to Life, Time, Newsweek, and technical publications such as Popular Mechanics, Science Digest, Mechanics Illustrated,and Popular Science. Inmates were allowed to keep three books in their cell at any one time, in addition to a Bible and a dictionary.

For twenty-one years after the opening of Alcatraz as a federal penitentiary, reading was the primary means of passing the time until lights out at 9:30 p.m. Then on October 4, 1955, the 295 inmates at Alcatraz were given a special treat when radio jacks were installed in all of the general population cells. The cellhouse residents cheered, stomped and laughed as they listened to theBrooklyn Dodgers pull off their first and only World Series victory over their arch-nemesis, the New York Yankees. On this special occasion, the inmates were allowed a day off from work to listen to the World Series events. Two radio receivers and a reel-to-reel tape machine were installed in the Control Center. The inmates could select a station by simply plugging their headset into the jack of their choice. The inmates were allowed to listen to radio programs from 5:30 p.m. until lights out at 9:30 p.m. every day. This proved to be the biggest morale booster ever afforded to the prisoners, though the radio jacks were not available in the hospital or in D Block. One inmate recalled:

I can remember lying on my bunk with my eyes closed, and dreaming that I was at this baseball game with my gal. I could imagine all of the sights and smells of the hotdogs and the summer breeze in the stadium. Those headphones were my escape to another world.

The Recreation Yard

Comparison photographs showing the recreation yard in August 1934 before the cement bleachers were constructed, and a present-day view with the bleachers. Numerous inmates enjoyed sitting high atop the cement bleachers to enjoy the beautiful panoramic scenery of the San Francisco Bay.

Inmates in the recreation yard playing the card game Bridge, which was the most popular pastime among the prison population. Specially marked wooden dominos were used to replace standard playing cards, since the cellulose coating was a flammable substance which could be used as an explosive. Dominos were also better suited to the prevalent wind conditions common in the San Francisco Bay.

Inmates playing handball in December of 1954. Note the painted wall markings identifying the court boundaries.