Alcatraz "America's Devil's Island," was the quote given to Alcatraz because of its similarities to the famous Devil's Island prison of France. In the making of Alcatraz, the Federal Bureau of Prisons decided to take the small island in the San Francisco Bay and make the military fort and jail in...

Jack London John (Jack) Griffith London (1876-1916) was born in San Francisco, California. His mother, Flora Wellman, came from a wealthy family. As an infant, Virginia Prentiss, a major mother figure, raised Jack in Jack's childhood, an ex-slave. She was obligated to care for Jack bec...

Alcatraz In western California, in San Fransisco Bay, Alcatraz rises 130 feet above the surface of the bay and is about 1755 feet long. The United States Depeartment of Justice used the island as a Military Prison from 1868 until 1933, when it became a federal prison for dangerous prisoners. ...

Alcatraz: United States Penitentiary 1934-1963 As a result of the Great Depression, a new breed of violent criminals swept the streets of America. In response to the cries of alarmed citizens, Congress enacted a number of statutes, which gave the federal government jurisdiction ov...