Alcatraz Dining Hall, often referred to as the Mess Hall, is the dining hall of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary where the prisoners and staff ate their meals. It is a long wing on the west end of the Main Cellhouse of Alcatraz, situated in the center of the island. [1] It is connected to the block by a corridor known as "Times Square", as it passes beneath a large clock approaching the entrance way to the dining hall. [2] This wing includes the dining hall and the kitchen beyond it.
Dining hall protocol was a scripted process, including a whistle system to indicate which block and tier of men would move into and out of the hall at any given time, who sat where, where to place hands, and when to start eating. [3] Prisoners would be awakened at 6:30, and sent to breakfast at 6:55. [4]
The original daily menu, established in 1934, included oatmeal, milk, fried bologna sausage, cottage fried potatoes, toast, oleomargarine, and coffee for breakfast. Dinner contained bean soup, roast beef, gravy, string-less beans, mashed potatoes, and coffee. Supper was a meal that had pork and beans, cornbread, potato salad, apricots, bread, oleomargarine, and coffee. [5]
A breakfast menu is still preserved on the hallway board, dated 21 March 1963. The breakfast menu included assorted dry cereals, steamed whole wheat, a scrambled egg, milk, stewed fruit, toast, bread, and butter. Lunch was served in the dining hall at 11:20, followed by a 30-minute rest in the cell, before returning to work until 16:15. [4]
Dinner was served at 16:25 and the prisoners would then retire to their cells at 16:50 to be locked in for the night. [4] Inmates were permitted to eat as much as they liked within 20 minutes, provided they left no waste. Waste would be reported and may make the prisoner subject to removal of privileges if they made a habit of it. [6] [7]
At the end of each 20 minute meal, the forks, spoons and knives were laid out on the table and carefully counted to ensure that nothing had been taken as a potential weapon. Prisoners were forbidden from talking while eating, although many would do so discreetly; escape plans were often put forward this way. [4] [8] Each dining table had benches which held up to six men, although smaller tables and chairs later replaced these which seated four. [8]
All of the prison population, including the guards and officials would dine together, thus seating over 250 people. [8] [9] The food served at Alcatraz was reportedly the best in the United States prison system. [6] On the second floor was an auditorium, which was where movies were screened for the inmates at weekends.
The gun gallery was situated in the Recreation Yard and mounted on one of the dining hall's exterior walls. [10] There was a metal detector outside of the hall for security purposes. The dining hall had tear-gas canisters attached to the rafters of the ceiling which could be activated by remote control, should prisoners riot or attempt to escape. [11] [12]
The first warden, James A. Johnston, always entered the dining hall alone and unarmed, due to heavy guarding around him. [13] Several riots did break out in the dining hall during Alcatraz's history. Those prisoners who were not involved in the fighting hid under the dining hall tables to escape possible retribution.
The dining hall in Alcatraz has appeared as a scene in numerous films, television programs and novels, often where criminals hatch plots to escape or crimes to commit upon escaping. It has appeared in films such as Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood's Escape from Alcatraz (1979), and Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994), which has a scene spoofing the dining room scenes of the 1979 film.
Alcatraz Island is a small island 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison. In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, and the prison became one of the most notorious in American history. The prison closed in 1963, and the island is now a major tourist attraction.
Robert Franklin Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz", was a convicted murderer, American federal prisoner and author who has been cited as one of the most notorious criminals in the United States. During his time at Leavenworth Penitentiary, he reared and sold birds and became a respected ornithologist. From 1942 to 1959, he was incarcerated at Alcatraz, where regulations did not allow him to keep birds. Stroud was never released from the federal prison system; he was imprisoned from 1909 to his death in 1963.
Hash browns, also spelled hashed browns and hashbrowns, are a popular American breakfast dish consisting of finely julienned potatoes that have been fried until golden browned. Hash browns are a staple breakfast food at diners in North America, where they are often fried on a large common cooktop or grill.
James Aloysius Johnston was an American politician and prison warden who served as the first and longest-serving warden of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, serving from 1934 to 1948. He had earlier served as wardens of California state prisons at Folsom (1912-1913) and San Quentin (1914-1924).
A full breakfast is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that typically includes bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, and a beverage such as coffee or tea. It appears in different regional variants and is referred to by different names depending on the area. While it is colloquially known as a "fry-up" in most areas of the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is usually referred to as a "full English", a "full Irish", "full Scottish", "full Welsh", and "Ulster fry", in England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.
Henri Theodore Young was an American convicted bank robber and murderer who, while serving one of a series of prison terms, attempted a 1939 escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary with four other inmates. Arthur "Doc" Barker, Dale Stamphill, Rufus McCain and William "Ty" Martin. During the escape attempt two inmates were shot, Stamphill and Barker. Barker died of his wounds. All survivors were quickly recaptured. Two of the men, Young and Rufus McCain, were sentenced to solitary confinement and served the terms at Alcatraz for a period of three years. Eleven days after re-entering the Alcatraz general prison population in 1942, Young murdered fellow escapee McCain.
Prison food is the term for meals served to prisoners while incarcerated in correctional institutions. While some prisons prepare their own food, many use staff from on-site catering companies. Some prisons support the dietary requirements of specific religions, as well as vegetarianism. Prisoners will typically receive a series of standard meals per day from the prison, but in many prisons they can supplement their diets by purchasing additional foods, including snacks and desserts, at the prison commissary with money earned from working in the prison or sent by family and friends.
Alcatraz Morgue is the morgue on Alcatraz Island, off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. It is located on the northwestern side of the island towards the centre, halfway between the Alcatraz Water Tower and the Dining Hall, below the side of the Recreation Yard.
Building 64, also known as the Building #64 or the Building 64 Residential Apartments, was the first building constructed on the island of Alcatraz off the coast of San Francisco, USA, entirely for the purpose of accommodating the military officers and their families living on the island. Located next to the dock on the southeastern side of the island below the Warden's House, the three-story apartment block was built in 1905 on the site of a U.S. Army barracks which had been there from the 1860s. It functioned as the Military Guard Barracks from 1906 until 1933. One of its largest apartments in the southwest corner was known as the "Cow Palace" and a nearby alleyway was known as "Chinatown".
Alcatraz Library was a library for inmates at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. It was located at the end of D-Block. On entering Alcatraz, every inmate received a library card and a catalog of books found in the library. An inmate would order a book by putting a slip with their card in a box at the entrance to the dining hall before breakfast, and a librarian took the order to and from their cell. The library, which used a closed-stack paging system, had a collection of 10,000 to 15,000 books, mainly left over from Alcatraz's army days.
The Recreation Yard was the yard used by inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary between 1934 and 1963. It is located adjacent to the Dining Hall northwest of the end of D-Block on a raised level surrounded by a high wall and fence above it. Guard Tower #3 lay just to the west of the yard. The gun gallery was situated in the yard, mounted on one of the dining hall's exterior walls. The recreation yard faced the mainland.
The Social Hall, also known as the Officers' Club, was a social club located on the northwestern side of the island of Alcatraz, off the coast of San Francisco, USA. Located in close proximity to the Power House, water tower and Former Military Chapel, it formerly housed the post exchange. The club was a social venue for the Federal Penitentiary workers and their families on the island to unwind after a hard week's work dealing with America's most hardened criminals after they'd been locked up at 17:30. It was burned down by a fire of disputed origins during the Occupation of Alcatraz in 1970; leaving a shell which still remains.
Fort Alcatraz was a United States Army coastal fortification on Alcatraz Island near the mouth of San Francisco Bay in California, part of the Third System of fixed fortifications, although very different from most other Third System works. Initially completed in 1859, it was also used for mustering and training recruits and new units for the Civil War from 1861 and began secondary use as a long-term military prison in 1868.
United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, also known simply as Alcatraz or The Rock, was a maximum security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The site of a fort since the 1850s, the main prison building was built in 1910–12 as a U.S. Army military prison.
Edwin Burnham Swope, nicknamed "Cowboy", was the second warden of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, which was situated on Alcatraz Island, California, US. He was a native of New Mexico, having been born at Santa Fe in 1888. His earlier posts as warden included New Mexico State Prison, Washington State's McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary, and the Federal Penitentiary at Terre Haute, Indiana.
Rufe Persful was an American criminal, convicted of murder, kidnapping and robbery. He was considered one of the most dangerous criminals of his era by the authorities.
Burton Earnest "Whitey" Phillips was an American criminal, convicted of bank robbery and kidnapping, a federal crime. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison, and served time in Leavenworth and Alcatraz penitentiaries. He was released on parole in 1952.
An Israeli breakfast is a style of breakfast that originated on the Israeli collective farm called a kibbutz, and is now served at most hotels in Israel and many restaurants. It is usually served buffet style, and consists of fruits, vegetables, salads, breads, pastries, dairy foods, eggs and fish. Meat is never included.
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