Primary Sources
“Aerial View of Alcatraz Island, January 1932.” FBI,
www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alcatraz-escape.
This photo gives us a good photo for our website which shows the island from an
aerial view. It helps us understand the size, geography, and architecture on the
island.
“Alcatraz Escape.” FBI, FBI, 8 Aug. 2016,
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alcatraz-escape
This website helps us because it gives us primary source photos that help us
with the structure of our website. It gives helpful information about the past
escape attempts. It gives us photos from the escape like the dummy heads and
how they were positioned to fool the guards. It gives crucial steps of their plan to
escape, including information such as the structural integrity of the building and
how it aided their escape. It aids us in how the case went unsolved.
“Alcatraz to Become a Federal Penitentiary in 1934 That Houses the
Country's Most Dangerous Convicts.” Newspapers.com,
www.newspapers.com/clip/25029552/alcatraz_to_become_a_federal/. This newspaper clipping helps us understand what the priorities and goals of the
prison were. It gives a brief description of the island including what the
geography of the land and the water surrounding it was like. It gives descriptions
of what the prison was like in terms of modernness. For example, a quote from
the newspaper is, “Alcatraz Island, despite it’s 18th century appearance, is
equipped as one of the most modern of prisons.”
“An Aerial View of Alcatraz on July 6, 1934.” Alcatraz History, www.alcatrazhistory.com/.
This picture helps us because it gives us a reliable photo to put into our website
to show the size and amount of buildings on the island. It helps us understand
how the security was from the outside, as well as providing us with information
about housing for the guards and their families.
Associated Press. “Firsthand Account of a Released Prisoner
about Life in Alcatraz.” Newspapers.com, 26 Dec 1937,
www.newspapers.com/clip/25029891/firsthand_account_of_a_released/.
This website helps because it is an article told by a former inmate describing
what everyday life was like in Alcatraz. It helps us to know what a normal day
was like in Alcatraz and how it varied depending on situations. It depicts how the guards treated the prisoners and how it affected the prisoners. For example,
Robert Moxon, the prisoner, said, “The policy at Alcatraz is to deflate the men’s
egos, to turn them into soulless, spineless creatures; inhuman jellyfish.” This
quote helps us understand how too prisoners were negatively treated in Alcatraz.
Babyak, Jolene. Phone interview. 19 December 2019
This interview was very helpful because it gave us a first hand experience of
someone who knew what the island was like on a regular day to day basis. She
provided us with helpful information that helped us understand how the security
of the island was affected following the escape.
“Clarence Anglin.” Northern California Most Wanted - Serving The Bay
Area and Surrounding Counties,
northerncaliforniamostwanted.org/default.aspx?act=incidentmapgaller
ytop10detai
l.aspx&category=LawEnforcementFugitives&IMID=56&menugroup=
This picture helps us because it is a poster showing a lot of details about
Clarence Anglin. It provides us with a sense of what he looked like then and what
he would look like now.
“Frank Morris’ Criminal Record (Page 1).” Ghosts of D.C,
ghostsofdc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2012/09/Screen-shot-2012-09-09-at-1
0.19.41-PM.jpg.
This picture helps us because it gives us a good look into Frank Morris’ past. It
gives us a reliable picture too put into our website to display his criminal record.
“Frank Morris’ Criminal Record (Page 2).” Ghosts of D.C,
ghostsofdc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2012/09/Screen-shot-2012-09-09-at-1
0.21.38-PM.png.
This picture helps us understand Frank Morris’ past troubles and the different
reasons he was put into Alcatraz.
“Frank Morris’ Criminal Record (Page 3).” Ghosts of D.C,
ghostsofdc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2012/09/Screen-shot-2012-09-09-at-1
0.22.31-PM.png. This picture gives us Frank Morris’ backstory and his past criminal offenses. It
gives us a timeline of his life before he was sent to Alcatraz.
“Frank Lee Morris.” Northern California Most Wanted - Serving The Bay
Area and Surrounding Counties,
northerncaliforniamostwanted.org/default.aspx?act=incidentmapgallerytop10detai
l.aspx&category=LawEnforcementFugitives&IMID=55&menugroup=
This picture helps us because it gives us helpful information about Frank Morris.
It provides us with a primary source poster which helps us identify what he
looked like and what he would've looked like if he did survive the escape. It gives
us a background about the terms of his escape. It also gives us a physical
description of him.
“John William Anglin.” Northern California Most Wanted - Serving The Bay
Area and Surrounding Counties,
northerncaliforniamostwanted.org/default.aspx?act=incidentmapgallerytop10detai
l.aspx&category=LawEnforcementFugitives&IMID=57&menugroup=&AspxAutoD
etectCookieSupport=1 This picture helps us because it provides us with information from a reliable
source about the escapees. It provides us with what he looked like then, and
what he would’ve looked like now. It provides us with details about John Anglin.
“Letter Supposedly from John Anglin.” CBS News,
www.cbsnews.com/news/alcatraz-inmate-escape-letter-nephew-speaks-out-new-
details/.
This picture helps us because it describes one of the possible theories of what
had happened to the escapees after the escape. It gives us a primary source
photo of the letter.
Ocean View Publishing Company. “Allen West.” The Great Alcatraz Escape - Page 2,
www.alcatrazhistory.com/alcesc2.htm.
This picture helps us because it gives us a reliable picture to use in our website
to show Allen West. It also gives us his prisoner number and shows what he
looked like during his term at Alcatraz.
“Picture of Inmates Exiting Alcatraz Prison after Its Closure in 1963.”
Newspapers.com,
www.newspapers.com/clip/25030403/picture_of_inmates_exiting_alcatraz/.
This is a newspaper clipping showing a picture of prisoners leaving prison. We
can use this picture in our website in a section about how Alcatraz was after the
escape. It provides a headline about Alcatraz. It gives us a primary source photo
that is connected to both long-term effect and short-term effect.
“The Area at the Lower Right of This Photograph Leads to the Water Line and Is
Believed to Be the Way the Men Went to Launch Their Raft.” FBI,
www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alcatraz-escape.
This picture gives us a good idea of how the authorities believe the men escaped
off the island. It shows us some of the architecture on the island.
“This Photo Shows the Profile of the Dummy Head Found in Morris’ Cell. The Broken
Nose Resulted When the Head Rolled off the Bed and Struck the Floor after a Guard Reached through the Bars and Pushed It.” FBI, www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alcatraz-escape.
This photo helps us because it gives us an idea of how determined the escapees
were to escape. It gives us an idea of how they used different tactics and
supplies to escape.
“View of Ventilation Grate through Which Prisoners Gained Access to Utility Corridor
behind Cell Block ‘B.’” FBI, www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alcatraz-escape.
This picture helps us understand how they escaped from their cells and how they
Secondary Sources
CBS News. “Alcatraz Inmate's Nephew Weighs in on Authenticity of Letter
about Infamous 1962 Escape.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 25 Jan.
2018,www.cbsnews.com/news/alcatraz-inmate-escape-letter-nephew-speaks-out -new-details/ This is a website about a letter John Anglin supposedly wrote and sent to the
police. This website gives insight on John’s nephew’s perspective about if the
men survived and if John really wrote the letter.
CBS News. “Alcatraz Inmates Survived Infamous 1962 Escape, Letter Suggests.”
CBS News, CBS Interactive, 25 Jan. 2018,
www.cbsnews.com/news/alcatraz-inmates-survived-infamous-1962-escape-letter
-suggests/
This website helps us understand some of the theories of what may have
happened to them after the escape. It furthers our understanding about how hard
it would have been to escape the island and undergo the tough circumstances of
the weather in the bay.
Ghostsofdc. “Who Was Frank Morris? He Escaped Alcatraz.” Ghosts ofDC,
10 Sept. 2012, https://ghostsofdc.org/2012/09/10/frank-morris-alcatraz-escape/
Frank Morris didn’t have that long of a jail sentence. Our group learned this
because of this primary source picture of the document of Frank Morris’s
convictment. This helps us because we can now infer on what Frank’s
perspective was on his time in Alcatraz.
Horydczak, Theodore. “Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Military
Prison, Alcatraz Island II.” The Library of Congress,
www.loc.gov/item/2019675660/. This website helps us understand what the island looked like at the
time of the escape. It gives us a general idea of what the prison
security was like on the outside. Also, the size of the island and the
picture opens up our minds of what really can happen because of the
number and sizes of the buildings that our group didn’t comprehend
at the start. Looking at the picture it makes you think of the
environment that the three men lived in and the planning they did.
We can use this picture in our project because it helps us get in the
right mindset of what the island looked like.
Ocean View Publishing Company. “Alcatraz Escape Maps.” Alcatraz
Escape Maps, www.alcatrazhistory.com/escapemap.htm. This website helps us because it shows us a picture of different
escape attempts and where they happened. It also gives a brief
explanation of the escape. For example, it tells the date, the location of where it
happened in the prison, and the inmate(s) that tried to escape. There is also
another map which is of the location of where “The Battle of Alcatraz” took place.
The “Battle of Alcatraz” was a failed escape attempt which ended in two dead correction officers and three dead inmates. We can use these pictures on our
website to help explain life on the island.
Lewis, Robert. “Alcatraz Escape of June 1962.” Encyclopædia Britannica,
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 June 2019,
www.britannica.com/event/Alcatraz-escape-of-June-1962#ref1249324.
In our research our group has heard multiple versions of the story of the
breakout. From the President of security’s daughter to a book from the library.
This website gives our group another version, therefore, helping us learn different
perspectives and get a better understanding of what is happening.
Ocean View Publishing Company. “Alcatraz - Quick Facts.” Alcatraz Facts & Figures,
www.alcatrazhistory.com/factsnfig.htm.
This website helps because it gives us information about the inmates who
resided there, and day to day life of the prisoners who stayed there. There is
information about famous inmates such as Al Capone, George (Machine Gun)
Kelly, and James “Whitey” Bulger. It shows rules of the prisoners who stayed
there. It shows a brief history of Alcatraz and how it came to be. This will help us with knowing the background of Alcatraz and knowing how the prisoners were
watched and guarded, telling us how hard the escape was.
Ocean View Publishing Company. “Welcome to Alcatraz History.”
AlcatrazHistory.com - The Historical Archive of Alcatraz Island,
www.alcatrazhistory.com/. This website helps because it gives us information about the inmates
who resided there, and day to day life of the prisoners who stayed
there. There is information about famous inmates such as Al Capone,
George (Machine Gun) Kelly, and James “Whitey” Bulger. It shows the rules of
the prisoners who stayed there. It shows a brief history of Alcatraz and how it
came to be. This will help us with knowing the background of Alcatraz and
knowing how the prisoners were watched and guarded, telling us how hard the
escape was.
Perry, Douglas. “Alcatraz Escapees Survived, Letter Claims; FBI Can't
Rule out Authenticity.” Oregonlive, 25 Jan. 2018,
www.oregonlive.com/trending/2018/01/1962_alcatraz_escapee_survi
Ved.html. This article is about a theory and the evidence on the men making it off the
island. This information opens up our minds and helps us really think about the
barriers being broken by the three men. When we are writing our website we will
add in information about the theory of the men getting home. Also, how the men
supposedly died.
Pruitt, Sarah. “Escape From Alcatraz: June 11, 1962.” History.com, A&E
Television Networks, 8 Oct. 2015,
www.history.com/news/escape-from-alcatraz-june-11-1962.
This website gives us good information about who the people were, and their
backstories. Also, it shows the details of the people in prison and the three
people who escape. This article tells us about the way the men were treated and
their conditions. That helps us understand what drove the men to break out.
Weiser-Alexander, Kathy. “Anglin Brothers- Escaping From Alcatraz.”
Legends of America, Oct. 2019, www.legendsofamerica.com/anglin-brothers/
This website helps us because it gives us information about the Anglin brothers,
how their life was growing up and facts about them and their arrests. It gives us
information about their first crimes in their childhood, their home life and primary
photos.
Wang, Amy. “A Man Claims Three Alcatraz Prisoners 'Barely' Survived a
1962 Escape - And That He's One of Them.” The Washington Post, WP
Company, 1 Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/24/a-man-claims-three-alc atraz-prisoners-barely-survived-a-1962-escape-and-that-hes-one-of-them/.
This website lets us know about the letter sent to the police from supposedly
John Anglin.