What It Was Like To Be A Prison Guard at Alcatraz
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- Опубликовано: 13 май 2024
- The federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island, located off the coast of San Francisco, CA, opened in 1934. Until it closed nearly three decades later, Alcatraz was reserved for some of the most ruthless criminals. Life at Alcatraz was not just about confinement and punishment but discipline and routine. Not everything about Alcatraz was considered undesirable; in fact, some convicts even requested doing time at "The Rock."
#Alcatraz #PrisonGuards #WeirdHistory 
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Years ago, my dad gave me a sweatshirt that said, "Alcatraz Swim Team". I wore it. My dad had a good sense of humor. I miss my dad, he died in 2017. RIP
My sincere #condolences 🪦 to you. 😪 ♑️✍️🇦🇺🇳🇴
I'll bet he smiled at you every time you wore it 😊
@@monacoofthebluepacific2571 Thanks for writing that. I recall my dad smiling.
@@Friendship1nmillion Thanks
Your Father sounds like he was a cool dude.
I love the postcard with a picture of alcatraz with „wish you were here“ written on it😂
Had better food than anywhere
“Just commit a really serious crime, and you can be here to!”
Reminds me of rose boquet with text of "May your death be swift and painful and me being there to watch it".
This was awesome. My mom was a prison guard for 10 years. Her short answers and facial expressions tells me, they see Alot of things they can't talk about but never forget.
My buddy was a prison guard for the adult prison a couple years ago. He actually told me about the things he saw in his short time there. He had to transfer to the juvenile facility because he was depressed and just not in q good mental state because of everything he had to witness
Interesting cause I never knew about the guard's families living on the island. Great video as always!
⚫️ Me neither, but once I heard this fact it instantly made *COMPLETE SENSE* !¡!
⚫️ I-mean if they didn’t, then it would be pretty “retarded” …
⚫️ You can’t have a very *secure* island prison if you are running a ferry to the mainland ( at least) twice a day, if not 4 times a day or more !¡!
right
If you take a tour to Alcatraz, they usually tell you this stuff
They had a school too kids would ride the same boat
Another book, for those interested in Alcatraz history, is the one the late Jim Quillen wrote in the early 1990's "Alcatraz From the inside". It's a simple read, but I met the man in 1995 when Dad took my brother & I on vacation in SF. He went on to work in the medical field.
I actually met Jim Quillen on a tour of Alcatraz. He signed my copy of the book he wrote about his time on "The Rock", and talked about his time there too. He was truly repentant about the actions he did that got him in trouble with the law and eventually to Alcatraz.
Same here in 1996. Interesting listening to his experience
"my brother and me" not "my brother and I"
@@suzycreamcheesez4371 I'm not an English teacher.
@@QuasiTraction apparently. obviously. evidently. aloha nui loa!
It's been thirty years, give or take, since I visited Alcatraz. In the visitor center I met former inmate Jim Quillen, a kidnapper. Mr. Quillen was granted a full pardon by President Carter, and had written a book "Alcatraz from Inside", which he was selling there in the center. There were few people visiting that day, so I had time to talk to the author as he signed my copy. One thing in particular that I asked was if he was ever nostalgic for the place. As a submariner I can well understand how enduring close quarters and a grinding schedule can result in attitudes that mellow with the years. But no, he denied any nostalgia for the place. In fact he said that he had never once set foot inside the prison proper since being released. Later as I read his book, I noted a photograph of him in the dining hall showing where he had attempted his escape. Well, memory is a funny thing. Mr. Quillen passed in 1998. I hope he found peace.
Thank you for sharing. 🥰
Yep. Met him in 1995.
Ya ok
@@scottp4063 in the 90s he would be there and you could meet him so it’s true
My grandfather worked for the US Bureau of Prisons from the mid-1930s to the late-1960s. He and my grandmother (and my mother when she was a child) always lived "on the reservation", the housing area that was incorporated into the prison grounds. Other than being on an island (about a 10 minute boat ride to/from "the mainland") there is little exceptional that is recounted here about the lifestyle of corrections officers and their families. He worked at the penitentiary in Springfield MO when "The Birdman" Bob Stroud came after transfer from Alcatraz. My grandfather said that Stroud was a cold-blooded murderer and gave off that vibe even as a sick old man. He was really annoyed at the Burt Lancaster movie that made Stroud look like a kindly intellectual.
Very interesting!
There's a penitentiary in Springfield mo?
There was a camp in Vietnam that was called Alcatraz
Better than any history class I've ever taken 😌
send ur teacher the video. all of these are educational material that can be shown in classes!
Do one for Guantanamo Bay! I deployed with the Navy and the ship needed repairs so we were at GITMO for 2 weeks. It wasnt bad at all. Arcade, bowling alley, restaurants, a club, multiple bars, you can go fishing and spear fishing, and much more. It probably would get old to be stationed there for a long time but in the short term, GITMO was pretty fun haha.
I am learning so much, I didn't even know I wanted, but very interesting.
Same here
Strange to hear the kids have memories of sharks... I've heard many times that guards lied to prisoners about shark infested waters to deter escape attempts.
There are no sharks there.... We are talking about San Fran, not Malibu.
@@mikatu There is definitely sharks in the sf bay
There are sharks. There’s been captured videos of sharks eating seals in the sf bay
But there are sharks, Just look up the red triangle online
There are sharks almost everywhere in the ocean but especially around the shore. If your in the sea; you are near sharks. The exceptions are places like the poles and that huge swathe of the south eastern pacific where very few animals exist at least at the surface.
How is 'Alcatraz Bowling Alley' not a band name already?
Better as a name for an American cooking 🍳 school 🏫. Although a Alcatraz theme dinner that has it's own bowling ally would be a fantastic tourist attraction { in America 🇺🇸 } . ♑️ ✍️🇦🇺🇳🇴
I'm a CO at ASP and honestly its a good job but it is a bit stressful. Some of the stories I hear from the old guys are crazy as hell.
"Many were housed in building 64." Shows picture with buildings, none are numbered 64.
The real building was 69, but due to demonetization of youtube he is not allowed to say that.
@@mikatu Explain, please.
I thought it was just me! I was like… I don’t see it.
@@JohnnyAngel8 It's a joke. Not a very good one, but a joke anyway.
Weird History Sunday is 🔥
My grandpa Sam Keller, integrated from Hungary around 1890. Joined the US Army around 1900 and was a prison guard at Alcatraz around 1905 before it was a federal pen
Great video.....I have always been fascinated by prison stories or histories......
I do love these videos, they're so good to listen to once in a blue moon when you haven't for a while.
This was superior work. Thank you very much.
I'd like to learn more about Penn State Prison... Or USP Atlanta
Very cool videos. Always learn new things.
love the vids!
This was a super fascinating video
"Child resident of Alcatraz" sounds like a Creepypasta title.
Fascinating as always. I would love a weird history video on North Brother island
You'll never take me alive, Copper! Just kidding, great video, man!
I've been fortunate to visit Alcatraz about four times. Once, the late ex-prisoner Jim Quillen was there, selling his book, and signing autographs. I still have the copy he signed for me.
I read his book.....and loved it. He had a real mean streak when he was younger,his crime was committed in my city.
Someone else commented this too! Lmao he’s just always there 😂 imagine
I love your channel. Never a disappointment
I was lucky enough to sleep overnight on Alcatraz for a weekend. This was back in the early 90s, when I was in the Boy Scouts. We did some volunteer cleanup and got a private tour. That place is much, _much_ creepier at night after all the tourists leave. The fog rolls in, and you can't see the city anymore. It's like you're trapped in this little pocket of reality where nothing exists but the island. On the other hand, the audio tour is way more interesting when you don't have to deal with the crowds. We got to sleep in cells in Block D, but of course we brought our own sleeping bags. Looking back, that was such a great and unique experience. Oh, and in case anyone thinks I'm lying, try Googling 10 unbelievable places Boy Scouts have camped. It's featured on an article. I tried linking to it directly here, but RUclips autodeleted it.
Some years ago, I was able to sleep overnight as a guest with the Boy Scouts on Alcatraz. It was very interesting, not scary or haunted. The cool thing was walking the halls at night all by myself to go to an outside bathroom. Also, seeing San Francisco from the island, I could imagine how the prisoners felt, the city so close but so far away!!!
@@rdaw33 Nice! Did they give your group a private tour? We got to go through the gun gallery and onto the roof.
@@Polymathically I don't remember the roof, but we got to see a lot, including the laundry building, gun gallery and other "non public" areas.
Thanks for this! 👮
Can you do videos on ADX Supermax in Florence, Colorado aka the Alcatraz of the Rockies? Both on guards and inmates. I hear the people of Florence take immense pride in the prison.
Imagine the schoolyard cred a kid growing up on "The Rock" must have had.
3rd Grader #1: Have you seen the new kid?
3rd Grader #2: Yeah. That's Little Timmy. Just transferred out of the joint.
School house rock.
I’ve always wanted to hear and see your take on ✨Fort Knox✨
LOVE THE CHANNEL LOVE THE LECTOR LOVE THE SCRIPT
Fucking love the rage against the machine mention!
I work at a locked MI/CD inpatient treatment facility. It’s extremely stressful due to the pent up anger in the clients and the occasional violence. I can’t imagine what it was like for the Alcatraz guards.
MI/CD?
@@Tracy-xe9zu “mentally ill/chemically dependent,” all of the clients are court committed
I have a friend that worked at a facility like that years ago. He was transorting a patient by elevator and suddenly the patient got very violent and banged my friend's head against the control panel/ floor level buttons.
My friend have been on disabilty ever since and has major migraine headaches quite often. He has been like this for more than 20 years now.
@@nazfan01 Don't take anything for granted. Life can throw a curve without warning and make you pine for the days you thought you were miserable.
Clients ?
My stepmother grow up on the island, her father was a guard there. it was something she never really talked about, at least to me, and we only really did shortly before she passed. She told me about taking the ferry to the city every day for school and coming back, and how it was a little hard to make friends as much of the time you were pretty stuck in a small area. i wanted her to add to the oral history of the children who grew up there but sadly she didn't last long enough to make it back down. She lived there from being very young to a teenager, so got to know what all was going on. I really wish i'd learned more about it from her.
Great episode. I was able to visit Alcatraz once. Had forgotten the guards families lived there.
I would like Sing Sing as an episode. TIA for consideration.
2:20 - There is no “building 64” on the map shown. Did anyone else notice this?
Cause 63 is the last building listed.
Some years ago we took the tour of Alcatraz while we were in San Francisco. Really incredible a huge facility. I still remember the cell of Frank Morris
Do a video on Attica State Prison in NY. There was an uprising in 1971 that lead to the highest number of deaths in US prison history.
Would love for you to do videos on Landsberg Prison as well as Spandau prison. Both in Germany.
Maybe a video on London’s Bedlam secure hospital
Making a video of videos..wow the talent is just amazing
I love weird history ❤️
Weird history, give this woman a shout out!😎
@@anbux5744So sweet! Thanks ❤️
@@anbux5744 well that was cringe
learned abit from this video! How about a video of Attica prison in N.Y, State?
Wow! Very interesting! I didn't know that the guards families lived there too! I visited Alcatraz in the 70's as a child. It was fascinating!
Angola in Louisiana - They once hosted a motorcycle run through the middle of the prison and the inmates sold things they made to the bikers. Prisoner rodeos and other fascinating things. Not sure what they currently do.
Parchman in Mississippi - Last time I visited someone, the farm was still being worked. And camp 29 is were the last deadly riots were. I think that occurred in 2020. Parchman is a very busy place. Intake and orientation, discipline, farm workers, manufacturing goods, death row inmates, and the list goes on...
I would really love to see what your research can bring to light regarding these two correctional facilities.
Knew a guard that worked the rock never talked about Robert Stroud. Only said he was a horrible, despicable man.
The last time I came this early, I ended up with another child.
I was surprised the families stayed living on the island as I'd only think there would be a boat for transferring shifts
If the guard’s families lived on the island, stands to reason so did the guards. If trouble arose, the maximum amount of guards could be mustered quickly, and perhaps stop things from getting worse. If they lived on shore, they might not even be at home when needed. No cell phones or pagers in those days. If guards lived on shore, they would likely be spread out over many square miles. Even if they were all at home, they couldn’t all get to the dock at the same time. So the ferry would be making dozens of crossings, wasting time, and costing the taxpayers more for fuel costs. Not to mention the daily boat costs if they lived ashore. Guards couldn’t leave until their relief arrived. So go get guards, then take guards they’re replacing home. That’s four trips per shift. Plus the costs for additional boat crew and wear and tear on the boats, causing more in repairs. If there were bad weather, the boat might not be able to make the trip at all. And guards probably didn’t make a whole lot of money. Free housing on the island would be a major perk, allowing the guards to spend the money on their wives and kids, and maybe some left over to put aside for emergencies or their children’s educations. Add up the time making the trip to shore, then travel to wherever they lived, and doing that again to return to the island, that’s a big chunk of time spent on commuting. You know any housing anywhere near the shore and dock would be hideously expensive, so the trip from the boat dock to their distant hovel would be time consuming, max. Living on the island freed up a lot of time to spend with the family, that would otherwise be wasted commuting. Happy wife, happy life. free housing would also reduce guard turnover, in what must have been a difficult and dangerous job to fill. Plus, guards and their fams could socialize with each other. It might be hard for a random neighbor to relate to a guard, and vice versa. Living amongst fellow guards meant they, at any time, could talk to someone who could completely relate to any problem or worry about the job. And the most important reason for guards not to live on shore? Safety. If a guard pissed off an inmate, said inmate could contact outside thugs and harm or kill the guard and/or his family. That could lead to coercion of the guards. Inmate: “I know where your family lives. My thug brother followed you home last Wednesday. Bring me (whatever an inmate could want), or something could happen to them and you.” Pretty soon either the guards quit, or the inmates would be running the prison. I’m surprised you didn’t give a few minutes thought as to good reasons for guards to live on the island. I’m sure you could have thought of everything I just said.
This is a bad comment
I’d love a weird history on Eastern State Penitentiary!
I second this! ☝🏼
I would love to hear more about Attica, SingSing, San Quentin and the Supermax prison in Florence, AZ. Love what you do, thanks!
Florence Supermax is in Colorado, not in Arizona. There is a prison in Florence, AZ but it's not the one you're thinking of.
I have an Alcatraz USP tin cup, it's my favorite coffee and tea cup, and is always an excellent conversation piece.
yes i was waiting for more alcatraz videos!!
So happy to see you back to REAL Weird History! What the heck was with that PUNK'D episode?!?!
Most definitely you should do a video on eastern state penitentiary
Awesome videos! You should do a video on Jim Corbett the big game hunter who killed numerous famous Maneaters. The movie ghost in the darkness is about one of his most famous hunts!
Love these videos do a video on the old Mansfield ohio reformatory that be great I lived right in the old prison yard for 2 years locked up at the prison beside called richland
thank you
Port Arthur, Tasmania was a hell hole for the recidivist convict. Conditions were brutal and well worth doing a video about.
Wow call of duty is so popular they made an island in honor of it? What!?!
Love this channel
Just dropping a comment to help a brother out ❤
I'd like to see a video on the prison riot at Attica prison
Clint Eastwood escaped!! i seent it!
One of my criminal justice professors back in the 1980s lived there for a few years as his father was a guard there. The only thing he mentioned about it was the sight of the island while riding the daily ferry to and from high school over in San Francisco.
These random ones are my favorite kind
I have travelled quite a bit, but Alcatraz made a big impact on me.
I was able to visit Alcatraz in 2016. Very fascinating! I never knew about the take over of the island in the 70's by Native Americans....
That's odd because when I visited Alcatraz back in 2019, our tour told us about the takeover of the island.
You got to do one on the Attica Prison riot now!!
I visited the rock once (on the tour boat). I do suggest anyone visiting San Francisco, make a reservation to visit, although visiting once is enough. I think it was closed because it was expensive to operate. That along with no room to expand. If you want to build a Federal prison now, a capacity of 336 just won't do.
I did the boat tour in 1980 and without a reservation, walked up cold to the booth and bought a ticket on the next boat out. Probably just lucky.
you should do one on the old west virginia state penitentiary in moundsville WV ran from 1866-1995....it was far worse than alcatraz and far older..not to mention very famous for being haunted..don't forget to include the "sugar shack" part of the prison
Next do a video on Spandau prison!
Crazy how the Battle of Alcatraz ended up being Bo2s Mob of The Dead. Imagine how quickly shit went from joy to confusion to total hell in their heads
"Building 64" would make an great Coen Brothers film.
I’d love to visit one of the most haunted spots in California. Can’t wait to go!
I can tell by the title that this is gonna be a good one 👍🏼
Exactly what I was thinking
FYI: San Quentin has housing for Guards just outside the gates of the prison. I found it odd to see kids playing with a ominous prison in the background.
That's insane.
As soon as I saw “Guards lived on the island with their families” I thought of Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko.
Have you done a video on Missouri State Penitentiary?
Any chance the timeline videos come back? 👉🏽👈🏽
You should do a video on USP Lewisburg, "the big house"
Maybe a video about andersonville prison?
Do Attica next please
not a prison per se, but would be interested in learning what life was like in a Victorian era workhouse. great channel.
I'd like to see a video about the beast of gevaudan
I'd love to hear about Attica and Sing Sing or Leavenworth
Frankly it did not sound all that bad living on the rock however periodically scary on the same note. I personally would fear the safety of my own family and children more so than anything however if it was not for that, free housing of decent accomodations with decent food and federal full pay seems cushy untill escapes occur obviously.
Sounds like prison for the housewives. Having to be escorted everywhere by your significant other, where it’s unsafe to leave the apartment complex? Nightmare.
What about how was hygiene in the Vietnam War? I’m sure that’s interesting
The hochie hochie tunnels { of the Veitnam War } ARE more interesting { I've been there , as a tourist 🧳, Not as a soldier 🥷 } . ♑️ ✍️🇦🇺🇳🇴
@@Friendship1nmillion those too would be an awesome topic! Put it in a comment so Weird History sees itB
_Now_ I want to see videos about both of your ideas! 😄
@@LisaBowers HYPE IT UP
“My boy's 7 now”
“Ain’t that swell”
Could you a video of one of the most mysteries of history, The Golden Room.
Where is it?
Can you do a video on the jails of new Orleans during hurricane Katrina being occupied and abandoned
You should do a video on the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola
It would be cool if you made a video about what it was like to be a prisoner at the Bastille
Could you eastern state penitentiary please?
What about US Federal prison? Is it really Club Fed? And as comfy as has been suggested?
Would love to have stayed there as a kid. How cool.
I worked for corrections for thirty years. I never took the job home, but they knew not to jump out at me, even in jest. Sirens still make me anxious sometimes, but man, I'm glad I'm no longer there. I have two sons who work there now, and I told them if one day they couldn't go back inside, I would back them up, 100%.
I was at a party ,and a prison guard was there. A girl he barley knew grabbed him from behind , he spun around and punched her in the face. Half the people there were mad at him , he explained that he's a prison guard and that's his natural response to being grabbed from behind.
Do you have plans to make a video about Louisiana State Penitentiary ("Angola") and their prison rodeo?