A secure lump of steel and concrete sat on
an island surrounded by unforgiving currents. Home to as many as 300 convicted felons, Alcatraz
was coined the highest security prison in America. Day to day, Alcatraz was also the most expensive
prison, state or federal, to operate in the nation. The dark hostile image of Alcatraz grew as
Hollywood dramatized the brutal conditions and glamorized the inmates who withstood them. Were the conditions at Alcatraz really any
tougher than any of the other state prisons of the era? And did those inmates who attempted to escape
the rock succeed? And is it possible to swim from the island
of Alcatraz to the San Francisco bay? Today, we’ll go inside one of the world’s
most infamous correctional facilities, in this episode of The Infographics Show – What
was it like to be jailed at Alcatraz? The first Alcatraz warden, James Johnston,
had a tough reputation and ran the prison with an iron fist. Prisoners weren’t allowed to speak to one
another at all, except for brief exchanges at break times. Speaking aloud generally resulted in a trip
to the dungeon or an isolation cell. Eventually the inmates realized, however,
that there were not enough isolation cells to hold them all simultaneously, so they began
to relax and speak en mass. This eventually resulted in a relaxation of
the talking ban. Magazines and newspapers were banned, as the
inmates weren’t allowed to read about sex or crime. Contrary to popular belief, the inmates weren’t
all hardened criminals. Anyone who had committed a federal offence
might have been sent to Alcatraz. Prisoners included shoplifters who had stolen
from a store with a post office branch inside, and folks who had carried alcohol across state
lines. A total of 336 cells were in B and C block
and a further 36 segregation cells, and 6 solitary in D block. A block was used mostly for storage. The cells in B and C block were 5 feet deep
by 9 feet wide, with a small cold water sink. You could extend your arms and touch both
sides of the cell, which is something you might get around to trying if you were imprisoned
in one for a year or more. Having your own cell means that there is less
chance of being sexually assaulted compared with other prisons, and many prisoners found
the privacy beneficial. You would be allowed an approved visit once
a month at Alcatraz, but you wouldn’t allowed to touch that visitor nor discuss any current
events; conversations were via intercom, and usually monitored. Inmate Willie Radkay, who shared a cell next
to Machine Gun Kelly, is on record saying that the food at Alcatraz was better than
any other prison he’d been at. Alcatraz may not of been the brutal hellhole
illustrated by many a Hollywood movie, but it was no picnic either. Inmates were marched from place to place,
worked under tough conditions, and had a strict daily routine. Each morning at 6.20am, a whistle blew, prisoners
rose, made their beds, and generally tidied up their cells, washed and dressed. At a quarter to 7, inmates moved to the mess
hall, where guards supervised seating and serving, giving the signal to start and stop
eating. Work detail was split into laundry, tailoring,
cobbling, modeling, gardening, and other labor details. At 9.30, there was a rest period in which
inmates were allowed to smoke in permitted areas, but not allowed to crowd together. At 9.40, it was back to work until 11.30,
when a count was taken and it was back to the mess hall for food, and then back to the
cells. 12.30 back to work until 4.15pm, final eating,
and 4.50pm final lock-up and a head count. At 9.30pm, the lights were put out. There were three more counts at midnight,
3am and 5am. The prisoners nicknamed the central walkway
Broadway, and other walkways were named Park Avenue and Michigan Avenue. The area between cell blocks and the mess
hall was named Times Square. At either end was the gun gallery walkway
enclosed by bars patrolled by armed guards who from that vantage point had a clear shot
at the cell blocks. A prisoner named Bernard Coy decided to break
that routine and attempted one of the most brutal attempts to escape the prison when
he hatched up a plan that ended in The Battle of Alcatraz in May 1946. Two guards and three inmates were killed and
several were injured in the attempted outbreak. Kentuckian bank robber Coy along with five
other inmates dreamed up the escape plan. Coy smeared himself in axel grease and climbed
the West End Gun Gallery. He used some tools crudely fashioned in the
prison workshop to manipulate the bars open to a width of ten inches, which due to Coy’s
partial starvation of himself, was wide enough to squeeze through. Coy then took on the first guard, and with
brute strength knocked him to the ground before strangling him unconscious with his necktie. He then lowered firearms and riot clubs to
his accomplices below, who swiftly took 9 unarmed guards hostage. However, they were unable to locate the key
to the recreational yard, as one of the guards had concealed it in the toilet of the cell
he was being held hostage in. Three other inmates were released from their
cells, but by this time, the breakout was discovered and the distress sirens wailed. San Francisco Coast guard and Marines were
alerted, and together they blocked all of the industry working inmates, while inside
the prison a battle was raging. Two inmates were shot dead in the battle before
the guards took back control of the prison. Other escapes were attempted. Joseph Bowers was shot and killed climbing
a fence in 1936. Two prisoners escaped the prison in 1937,
but it is generally understood that they died crossing the water, although their bodies
were never discovered. In 1962, brothers Clarence and John Anglin,
and Frank Morris (probably the most famous escapees) chipped away with spoons at the
concrete around ventilation grates in their cells. They moved through a maintenance area and
made a raft with life jackets and raincoats. They avoided being detected in the nightly
headcount by leaving paper mache heads in their bunks. They hopped a fence to the bay. Again the trio was considered drowned yet
made famous in the Hollywood, Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood. Television show Mythbusters tested a raft
across the same stretch of water and found that the escape was technically possible. And for those who think swimming the distance
to the mainland undoable, there’s an annual Alcatraz swimming trip open to all open water
swimmers willing to tackle the 3.6 miles around the island, or the easier 1.25 miles from
the island to the mainland. So what do you think? Would you be able handle conditions in a state
prison? Or would you make a break for it and swim
from the island to the mainland? Perhaps you’ve been to the island before? Please enter your comments in the comments
section below and join in the discussion. Also, be sure to watch our other video called
How Rich was Cleopatra and other Pharaohs? Thanks for watching, and as always, don't
forget to like, share and subscribe, see you next time
