Alvin Karpis Alcatraz

ALCATRAZ

(Alvin at Alcatraz...prisoner # 325)

Please Read First:

The following is a summary of Alvin's stay at Alcatraz because you should go read his book,"On the Rock."

The passages I do use are copyrighted by both Alvin Karpis and Ron Livesey.

If you have any pictures to add to this summary,I would very much appreciate it,afterall,I am trying to keep Alvin's memory alive.

Thank you.

August 1936 - November 1936

(Alcatraz in 1936)

August 6,1936 : Alvin arrives at Alcatraz as inmate #325. He is placed on 'Fish Row,'cells reserved for new inmates(located on the bottom tiers of Broadway)

August 7,1936 : an old friend of Alvin's,Alfred Bates*,warns Alvin that there are 'rats' among old friends at Alcatraz

August 9,1936 : Alvin is removed early from Fish Row as an early birthday gift from Deputy Warden Charles Shuttleworth,to the third tier(still on Broadway).Alvin believes this is an attempt to turn him into a rat.

August 10,1936 : Alvin is assigned to work in the 'Laundry'(he is assigned to sorting clean laundry into large clothing bins by matching the laundry number on the clothes to the number on the bins).Getting removed from Fish Row early gave Alvin the chance to speak to Doc Barker for the first time since his arrest.

Alvin begins to look for a new place to work that would make it easier to escape.

August 16,1936 : Alvin gets to hear and see Al Capone with a group of cons perform in a string band for the cellhouse (the music is met with disappointment)

Later on,Alvin is asked by Doc if he wants in on an escape plan he has come up with,but Alvin asks to have some time to think it over.As the day goes on,Alvin decides not to join Doc in the escape,but rather to wait until he's been at Alcatraz for awhile before escaping.

This is also the day that Alvin finds out that old friend,Volney Davis,is one of the rats in Alcatraz.

August 17,1936 : Alvin is personally asked to meet with Capone,who wants to know about everything that is going on outside Alcatraz.

September 7,1936 : Alvin is approached by George Barnes (aka Machine Gun Kelly),and asked if he wants in on an escape plan,but Alvin declines.

(Alcatraz's laundry room)

Alvin receives a letter that states he is being sued by the Bremers for a $1,000 bill that he left in a safe back at his hotel room in Miami(Alvin's parents would end up getting the money).

November 26,1936 : Alvin and some others that work in the Laundry are pulled aside from their work line,stripped naked and searched (there was never a reason given for the search).

(George Barnes aka Machine Gun Kelly)

January 1937 - November 1937

January,1937 to March,1937 : Alvin is warned by Francis Keating that Blackie Audett,a known 'rat' in Alcatraz,is being sent to work in Laundry with him.

While there,Audett tries to get Alvin to confess to the murder of Sheriff Kelly in 1931,but Alvin avoids speaking of it.Audett is later transferred to the Kitchen,but Davis is brought in to try to do the same as Audett had tried to do.Alvin cuts all ties with Davis.Harvey Bailey gives Alvin news that Missouri authorities are trying to get Alvin handed over to them for the murder of Sheriff Kelly.Alvin begins to worry daily that he will be handed over to Missouri and hung for the murder.

June,1937 : Two FBI agents are sent to Alcatraz to try and blackmail Alvin into confessing to the murder of Sheriff Kelly,but Alvin avoids doing so.

(Harvey Bailey)

Alvin and Davis get into a fistfight on the baseball diamond in the Yard;Alvin and Davis are both sent to A Block to stay in the 'hole.'

'Count' Van Lustig,a fellow inmate,asks Alvin,after his release from the 'hole,'if he could help get Allie Anderson,another inmate,to leave him alone.When Alvin confronts Anderson,he and Anderson get into a fistfight.

Alvin and Anderson are both placed in D Block's isolation cells for eighteen days. After Alvin is released early from isolation,J. Edgar Hoover makes an announcement that Alvin will NOT be handed over to the Missouri authorities for the murder of Sheriff Kelly because of lack of evidence.

(Volney Davis)

During this time,Alvin joins a strike that is caused by the inmates because the Director of Prisons,James V.Bennett,refuses to give the inmates any more privileges.Alvin,with the others on strike,are held in the 'dungeons,'which is located beneath the cellhouse.

After the strike,all are released from the 'dungeon.' Alvin is approached by Bailey,who asks Alvin to transfer to the 'clothing factory' so that he can join him and some others on an escape plan. Alvin is transfered to the clothing factory.

Alvin and the others are asked to wait to escape by two fellow inmates,who had been planning an escape from the 'Mat shop' for awhile.They allow them to try first.

(Alcatraz's clothing factory)

December 1937 - December 1938

December 16,1937 : Alvin and others watch as fellow inmates Ralph Roe and Ted Cole try to escape,but both disappear into the water surrounding Alcatraz

FBI Agents arrive at Alcatraz to investigate the escape;they interview inmates,including Alvin,but he gives no information.In a broad attempt,the Agents try to get Alvin to talk about the murder of Sheriff Kelly,but Alvin refuses to speak.

Security is doubled after the escape,tool-proof bars are placed on the windows of the Industries building (where the clothing factory is located).Alvin and the others decide to abandon their escape attempt for the time being.

(Ted Cole)

January 1938 - May 1938 : Since the tool-proof bars was preventing any attempt at escaping,Alvin has himself transferred to the Library,where Bates tells Alvin there is a way to escape from there.

November 1938 : Alvin begins to expect that fellow inmate,John Chase,is a rat,when Chase is questioned by Postal Inspectors about a missing banker in Reno,and about information on two fellow friends of the Barker-Karpis gang (Graham and McKay)

December 1938 : Doc approaches Alvin,asking if he wants in on another escape plan...Alvin asks to think on it for awhile

A few weeks later,Alvin proposes another escape plan to Doc,that has nothing to do with swimming,stating that this is the only way he would be in on the escape,but Doc refuses the plan,so Alvin refuses to be a part of his escape.

(Alcatraz library)

January 13,1939 - June 1940

January 13,1939 : Alvin,along with other inmates,are awoken around 3 AM when an alarm sounds that inmates have escaped;Alvin knows it's Doc and the others

Later that morning,Alvin finds out that Doc was killed during the escape from a bullet to the back of the head.

A little while later,Alvin is told by "Lefty" Egan that Henry Young,one of the inmates that had tried to escape with Doc,was looking to get revenge on Rufe McCain (another who was included in the escape) because he blammed McCain for the escape being a failure. Alvin decides to warn McCain.

One day,while Alvin is on his way to visit a fellow inmate at Alcatraz's hospital,he witnesses Capone and fellow inmate,Carl Janaway,in a feces throwing fight from their 'bug' cages (cages meant for the insane).

(Alcatraz hospital)

Later on,Alvin learns that Young killed McCain in the clothing factory

Alvin comes up with a plan to escape through the hospital skylight with fellow inmates: Freddie Hunter,Red Kuykendall and Pete Norman,but the plan is abandoned when Norman confesses about it(he doesn't give any names).

December 1939 : Bill Weaver and Sawyer invite Alvin to come and work in the Kitchen with them,telling him not to worry about Audett or Davis,who both work there,too.

January 1940 : Alvin transfers to the kitchen,where he is put to work at the steam tables in the dining hall

(Bill Weaver)

Soon after,Alvin is given the position of 'cook,'where he prepares meals for the hospital.Then later on,after Davis is transferred to the job of 'printer,' Alvin is given the job to prepare meals for the guards.

(Alcatraz's kitchen)

July 1940 - 1942

July 1940 : The majority of the inmates go on a hunger strike. All the inmates are kept from going to their work detail,unless they sign a form that states that they will work and eat

The entire the kitchen crew is blammed for the strike,so everyone working there(including Alvin) are moved to different cells with the others that refuse to sign the 'cope-out' form.

During this time,the Alien Registration Act is passed,causing all immigrants to be fingerprinted.Some FBI agents are sent to Alcatraz to fingerprint inmates who qualify as immigrants,including Alvin.Alvin's fingerprints had yet to grow back,so they were unable to make him a citizen.

The hunger strike ends soon after,and Alvin returns to work in the kitchen.

(No fingerprints)

December 7,1941 : Alvin and the others of the kitchen crew hear news of the Pearl Harbour bombing;they begin to wonder if the inmates of Alcatraz will be moved inland because of fear that the Japanese could possibly take over Alcatraz

1942 : Alvin becomes drunk off of 'homebrew' while working in the kitchen.He's escorted to an interview desk in the cell house,afterwards being put in isolation for being drunk. After he is released,he is removed from the kitchen,and put back in the Mat shop.Soon after,the Warden announces that the Mat shop is being closed,and all workers there will be moved to laundry.Alvin refuses to work in laundry again,so when he is suppose to report for work,he refuses to leave his cell...some of the other workers follow his lead,including Fred Hunter.

Alvin and the others refusing to work are put in isolation for refusing to work.

1942 - April 1943

(Fred Hunter)

1942 : While in isolation,Alvin overhears anti-aircraft guns being placed ontop of Alcatraz (these would be manned by soldiers during the entire war)

November 1942 : Still in isolation,Alvin sees a new inmate arrive,and he's held in isolation until they can prepare him for general population,his name is Robert Stroud

Alcatraz starts allowing inmates to be paid for working in the industries;Alvin is the least bit interested,so he continues his stay in isolation.

December 31,1942 : the Warden finally gives in and assigns Alvin back to the kitchen instead of laundry

(Robert Stroud)

1943 : Alvin gets a surprise visit from Immigration;they want Alvin to be deported.This has Alvin in very high spirits because the sooner he can be deported,the sooner he can get out of prison,but the one rule keeping it from happening is that he cannot be deported until he is 'released from custody.'

April,1943 : Alvin is told by Hunter that fellow inmates Harold Brest,James Boarman and Floyd Hamilton are planning to escape...a few weeks later,Alvin watches the escape attempt from one of the kitchen windows. No one escaped,and Boarman's body is lost at sea.

(Harold Brest)

1944 - May 3,1946

1944 : Alvin and the others in the kitchen are pulled out and accused of hiding a gun because a shot was heard from inside the kitchen...it turns out that a guard outside the kitchen had accidentally let off a shot.

1945 : Alvin takes up playing steel guitar with the help of fellow prisoner,Lloyd Barkdoll.

1946 : Joe Cretzer tells Alvin of an escape he is planning;he asks Alvin if he wants in on it,but he refuses because Bernard Coy,a known 'rat,' is involved in the escape.

May 2,1946 : After working in the kitchen,Alvin has the choice to go out to the Yard or back to his cell;when he realizes that this is the day that Cretzer is making his escape,Alvin chooses to go back to his cell for a front row seat to one of the biggest escape failures at Alcatraz.

(Lloyd Barkdoll)

Around 2 o'clock the next morning,Alvin falls asleep due to exhaustion,but he's woken by the sound of jack hammers above his head in the corridor (holes were being made to make the three men left in the escape attempt to surrender,or explosives would be dropped down the holes).

The three men refuse to surrender,so grenades,smoke bombs,and tear gas are dropped down the holes. Alvin,along with other inmates that are still locked in their cells experience the side effects of the tear gas: vomiting,burns,and endless watering eyes.

(Grenade damage in the cellhouse)

June 1946 - 1948

June 1946 : Alvin is in the Bake Shop of the kitchen,when he leans inside the oven to light it,it explodes in his face.A fire breaks out,blocking him in a corner,but Alvin finds an opening behind the fire to get out. Having been splattered with hot oil from the explosion,his nose,right hand,and left ear caught fire. Fortunately,a guard gets Alvin to the Hospital Ward before any serious damage is done.

Alvin is given morphine during his stay in the hospital,but when an orderlie gives him a glass of chocolate malt milk,it causes Alvin to go into shock (the milk had reversed the effect of the morphine).

While recovering,two FBI agents come to see him;they offer Alvin a deal that if he gives incriminating testimony on a crooked mayor in Hot Springs,Arkansas,they would get him released from Alcatraz. Alvin refuses the deal.

August 1946 : Alvin is released from the hospital,and is sent back to work in the Bake Shop.

1947 : Fellow prisoner,Harry Brunette,is transferred from his job in the Print Shop,so Alvin puts in for it and gets the job.Here,he begins to plan an escape. Alvin gets friend and fellow inmate,Arnold Kyle,transferred to the Print Shop to have him help with the escape.

(Arnold Kyle)

While planning the escape,Alvin volunteers to be the Kitchen Clerk (helping to order food and prepare the diets of the inmates).The majority of his time outside his cell,Alvin works in the Kitchen Office.

1948 : Alvin backs out of the escape plan when he finds out the Barkdoll told authorities about the escape.The plan is never played out.

Alvin begins to give corn sugar to the Warden's houseboy/cook,William Montgomery,so that Montgomery can begin to make mash for the inmates' homebrew in the Warden's basement.

(Warden,J. Johnston)

November 1948 - 1950

November 1948 : Many famous people visit Alcatraz to help lighten the mood of the inmates;Alvin gets to meet Cary Grant, Franchot Tone, Jack Bickford, Bing Crosby, and Joe Brown.

December 1948 : Alvin is overjoyed when the first Christmas tree is erected at Alcatraz.

January 1949 : Barkdoll dies suddenly of a heart attack,but a rumor goes around that Alvin poisoned him because he had ratted about the escape plan;Alvin denies this.

Talk begins that all non-US residents in the prison system will be deported to their birthplace;this makes Alvin hopeful that he will be deported back to Canada,where he is sure he can be paroled,but if he can't,Alvin knows that he would be eligible for parole there in the summer of 1951,as long as he didn't have a detainer on his record.

(First Christmas tree in Alcatraz;Alvin is circled in red)

Alvin begins to look into his record;he's told there isn't a detainer on his record,only deportation,which makes Alvin extremely happy.

1950 : Recording facilities are setup in the basement of Alcatraz so that inmates can record their voice/songs onto a disc to send to loved ones. Alvin,along with some of his fellow inmates,record their version of "Steel Guitar Rag."

Two trouble makers are brought into the kitchen under orders from the new Warden,Swope,because he believed that Alvin and the others didn't know how to run a kitchen.The original crew and Alvin begin to sabotage meals by doing little things,such as leaving out certain ingredients in food.