As to my prison record, I can’t honestly say that is any too good except in way of performing well any work that I have undertaken. I have been reported perhaps a dozen times in the nine years that I have been here in the past 3 years. I have been reported only once it is my opinion that when my past conduct in prison is reviewed, due consideration should be given to the fact that where – as almost all the inmates in here had a chance to become accustomed to prison routine and discipline, I was one might say, practically taken right from the freedom of the streets and put in here as I was in Leavenworth only 6 days.
Of course I also realize that the unpleasant notoriety in my case isn’t helpful in this matter but I feel that I should at least inquire as to what chances are or might be in the next year or 18 months.
Naturally I would be highly pleased to receive an encouraging answer to all of this but in the event that my hopes are a bit premature I would still appreciate knowing just where I stand at present. Your advice in this matter would be helpful to me in planning for the future regard of a favorable or an unfavorable answer.
I believe the above just about covers my case at the present time. Thanking you in advance for your consideration in this matter.
Respectfully
Alvin Karpowicz
No. 325
[Handwritten Note] Interviewed. Told him I could not give him any definite date when his application would be acted on but if he made good record it would taken up for consideration before his parole date – J.A.J-3yrs.
* * *
From Alvin Karpowicz No. 325 May 8, 1948
Alcatraz California
To Warden Swope Warden’s Office
Dear Sir:
Not knowing just when you will begin granting interviews, I decided to write this letter hoping that it will serve, at least partially, the same purpose that a personal interview would. As I understand it Paul Ritter is scheduled to be transferred soon. In that event I would like very much to have the job he now has.
I have cooked for the officers mess 3 different times, for the main line twice and for 3 ½ years was in charge of the bake shop. I believe my work record, my conduct for the past 5 years and the monthly work reports will prove satisfactory.
Before asking you for this job I first discussed the matter fully with both Mr. Madigan and Mr. Scanland as I realize that if either one or both considered it ill advised I best not bother asking but as both spoke favorably in regard to the matter I feel that I owe it to myself to try for it.
At the present time I am the printer and also do clerical work for Mr. Scanland. I am serving a life sentence for kidnapping. July 26th I will have in 12 years. I have in my possession a warrant calling for me deportation. I will be eligible for deportation July 26, 1951. I have several detainers on me which I could get lifted without too much effort but haven’t tried as I feel they will be dropped automatically at the proper time.
I have several reasons for wanting that job. The most important one being that, if I could work for you satisfactorily for 2 or 3 years, it would go a long long way in giving the proper Authorities a fair idea as to my future conduct in the event they were to deport me. Another reason is that I like that type of work. I also believe the change would be beneficial to me as I have been inside a long time.
About 3 years ago I asked Warden Johnston about a transfer but I now believe that job means more than a transfer in regards to me getting deported. I believe that the above just about covers it. Hoping that you can and will give this matter favorable consideration.
Respectfully yours
Alvin Karpowicz
[Handwritten Note] told no
* * *
FROM: Alvin Karpavicz, 325 May 21, 1953
Alcatraz, California
TO: Mrs. Emily Janke 3644 Diversey, Chicago, Ill.
Dear Sister:
I just received your letter and sure was glad to hear you are all alright, now about Mother, frankly I expected to hear much worse news, even though it is bad enough. Let’s hope she snaps out of it. She is Lucky to have you looking out for her. I am glad that, Clara is acting decently for a change hope she keeps it up. Well Emily I am writing this from S.T.U. I’ve been locked up since Monday Morning, on the flimsiest of pretences. I won’t go into details but locking me up was such obviously apparent act of frustration on an officials part that he looked sheepish himself. Oh well, I knew I would be surely picked as one of the goats, they always need them in these matters. The only thing is, that if this thing ends before the 4th of July it, will surprise me as things are pretty hectic some of the officials seem to be in a trance for as I already told you in a recent letter, the solution lies solely in the hands of the officials, not in our hands. Oh well, I am not going to worry over it as under the circumstances I am making out the best I can, right at present things are a bit rugged but hell kid, I hear that things are tough all over. I don’t believe I will be able to write only when I receive a letter so when you hear from me will depend on you for awhile, this should be over with by 4th of July, at least I hope so for as soon as it is over I will write twice a week again. I am lying on the floor flat on my stomach as I write this, hence the funny hand writing. Say I really hope that you make out alright on what you have coming up in June. I hope it is something real nice for you and Bill, Christ only knows you both deserve a break and I mean a real break. Be sure and let me know how you come out on it. June isn’t so long away Just 10 days or so. Emily you say in your letter not to break up now, don’t worry I have no intention of throwing in the sponge; I am just as determined as I ever was. Don’t think for a minute that a day of reckoning isn’t going to come over all this stuff. The Republicans are pretty busy right now but they will eventually get around to it. Maybe they are like the Demos though, just don’t give a damn what happens out in this place. To tell you the truth I don’t much care myself anymore. No Emily, I meant it about those guitars, etc., if you have any use for such stuff I will send it all to you if you can find use for it, let me know. Well I am about out of paper, don’t worry about this, and just remember I will only be able to write when I hear from you while this is going on so write right away if you want to hear from me once a week or so. Tell Bill Charlene and Mother hello for me. Hoping to hear from you real soon.
Alvin Karpowicz, 325-AZ
* * *
From Alvin Karpowicz March 19, 1957
Alcatraz California
Mr. P. J. Madigan, Warden Cell C-140
Dear Sir:
In the more than 20 years since my arrival here I have occasionally received postal cards from relatives on my approved correspondence list but today Mr. Ringwald informs me, cards that have accumulated in the mail office from my niece down in Miami are not to be given me and that furthermore, I should notify her to cease sending cards.
Mr. Madigan, surely you realize that after all the years I’ve spent in this place there are very few things left to me from which I can derive any pleasure. The cards I occasionally receive from various localities with which I am familiar have always been a great source of pleasure to me and why after twenty years of them, which has resulted in harm to no one, they should now be suddenly prohibited beats me. Naturally I will survive it if this privilege is to be taken from me, just as I out rode the other vindictive petty persecutions shot at me in the past around this place, but I find it hard to believe that you would acquiesce to seeing me deprived of a privilege I have had for 20 years or more, one which I have at no time abused or attempted to take advantage of. In the remove event that I am mistaken tho, then I believe that at the very least, the cards, either should be promptly returned to the sender or else to my sister for after all they were purchased and sent in good faith and the money they cost should not be wasted as the result of a capricious whim on the part of some official connected with this place.
Respectfully yours,
Alvin Karpowicz 325 AZ
Karpis who once ruled as U.S. Public Enemy No. 1, seen in photos relaxing at h
is home in Montreal, Canada, and shopping for a Valentine’s Day gift just months following his release. His lawyer, James Carty, later said that Karpis dreamed of moving to an exotic place where he could escape his past and live his final years in peace. He was estranged from his son Raymond, who had visited him once at Leavenworth (Raymond died in October 2001), as well as his only grandson, Damon, who died at fifteen. Using money he accumulated from books, interviews, and movie rights to his story, which had been optioned by Harold Hecht (producer of the Birdman of Alcatraz) for the motion picture The Last Public Enemy (which never made it into production), he moved to Torremolinas, on Spain’s Costa del Sol. Karpis, whose final years were quiet, died in August 1979 at the age of seventy-one. He rests in the Cementerio de San Miguel, Málaga, Andalucia.
Elliott Michener, 578-AZ
Elliott Michener
When notorious inmate Roy Gardner wrote in his memoir that, “The very word ‘Alcatraz’ has struck terror into the hearts of the underworld gangsters,” it couldn’t have applied more aptly than to Elliott Michener. But Elliott would also become a man of redemption, proof that Alcatraz didn’t mean the final chapter in one’s life, but rather a chance at a new beginning.
Elliott Michener was an elite class counterfeiter who had landed himself on Alcatraz following a desperate escape attempt from USP Leavenworth. Michener claimed that his fear of a transfer to Alcatraz prompted him to build a makeshift weapon (a homemade handgun) to aid in his escape. His inmate file contained the following excerpts from an interview transcript conducted by Associate Warden Cecil Shuttleworth, who had previously served as associate warden at Alcatraz:
Q: What was your fear of Alcatraz that was so great that you would have been willing to almost take your own life in preference to being transferred there? What is there about Alcatraz that you fear so much? I can show you letters from Warden Johnston of ten days ago in which he listed 12 men for transfer back here from Alcatraz and enclosed copies from men who preferred to stay there. Have you ever talked to any of the men from Alcatraz?
A: What I heard from Alcatraz has been unpleasant. I still believe it is like Wisconsin State Prison. I done time there. I do not want to do no time like I done in Waupun and thought it was like it was there.
Q: The silent system at Alcatraz is in the cellhouse. All men are in single cells and all men prefer to read and write and do not make a lot of noise in their cells, and do not want to be disturbed. Do you prefer to cell alone?
A: Yes.
Q: The only other place there is silence is in the Dining Room. You cannot hold a conversation in the Dining Room, but you can ask somebody to pass you something. At work they talk to each other and when in the yard they are allowed to talk. Alcatraz is one of the cleanest and most sanitary places in the United States and one of the most orderly run prisons.
A: Many attempts of escape have been made with something that looks like a real gun that cannot be fired and there have been some successful escapes. The now deceased (John) Dillinger made his escape with a wooden gun.
Q: When did you think up this idea, how long have you been working on this idea?
A: As soon as I thought I was going to Alcatraz.
Michener landed on Alcatraz in July 1941. As one of his first work assignments, he was assigned the mundane task of cleaning debris and retrieving the handballs that were hit over the yard wall. Michener would later admit that in his early years at Alcatraz, he was preoccupied with the idea of escaping. But his dreary work combing the terrain would have him stumble upon a lucky break. Michener came across a set of keys that had been dropped by a correctional officer. Rather than use the keys to leverage a means of escape, he returned the keys to the prison staff. It was an act that changed the course of his life and helped build a sense of trust, one that was rarely extended to inmates serving time on the Rock.
Warden Swope
Mrs. Swope
His supervising officer recommended him to Warden Swope that he work as a passman. It was considered premium work assignment that came with inherit perks that were not often shared by general population inmates; in fact, convicts who worked as passmen were often frowned upon and distrusted by other inmates. The assignment was an earned status; a person assisted the Warden and his wife inside their home, and had duties ranging from basic housekeeping and cooking to complex maintenance duties.
Michener remembered: “It was really quite a change from working inside of the prison. Mrs. Swope herself was very nice. I saw the newspapers, and they had a radio, and you had comfortable living quarters. Of course we went in at night, but we had rest quarters downstairs. It was almost like being back on the outside for a little while.”
“Mrs. Swope was really a wonderful person. We were both kind of interested in horse racing, and she’d bring the morning paper and we’d both look over the horses. I had a lot of gardens around here, and I grew a lot of flowers, and when she had guests, she would bring them up a box of flowers and they’d leave a tip for me; they wouldn’t give it to me, but they’d leave it with Mr. Swope and she’d take the money and use it to bet on the horses, and then say ‘don’t you ever tell the warden.” Cooked and served breakfast, made the beds and did general housework and then would do some gardening. I’d keep everything ship shape. I enjoyed it... The men who worked down in the laundry, I pitied them, because that was pure drudgery.”
One of Michener’s most enjoyable duties in the warden’s home was grinding fresh coffee every morning. Warden Swope loved Folgers Coffee (a company founded in San Francisco with a local outlet with fresh beans) and he gave Michener the task of grinding fresh coffee beans each morning and to serve fresh coffee throughout the day.
One of Michener’s most special memories took place on his 42nd birthday. The warden had business on the mainland and Michener was given a gift he could never forget. Mrs. Swope served him a cup of coffee and gave him the entire morning off. He sat in the parlor room enjoying the beautiful vistas of the San Francisco skyline, sipping coffee, and listening to the radio. For lunch, Mrs. Swope served crackers and various cheeses, along with ice cream and cake. “That gesture was, well, something very special... I’d been in prison for about 15 or 16-years by that time, and here I was sitting in the warden’s house, eating cake, reading magazines and the paper. Can you imagine that? A real taste of freedom ... I don’t think anyone else ever got that... very special memory... I owe so much to her...”
Michener developed a passion for gardening, and was believed to have introduced many botanical varieties to Alcatraz. He experimented and—without any formal education other reading magazines and seed packages—he prospered through pure trial and error. He spent years on the island’s west side creating cottage-style gardens, building a greenhouse, and was almost solely responsible for changing the face of the entire landscape. He was later quoted as saying:
“The hillside provided a refuge from disturbances of the prison, the work a release, and it became an obsession. This one thing I would do well ... If we are all our own jailers, and prisoners of our traits, then I am grateful for my introduction to the spade and trowel, the seed and the spray can. They have given me a lasting interest in creativity.”
Michener was also close friends with John Giles, who would later become famous for a failed escape attempt where he assembled an army uniform over a ten year period and gain entrance onto a military boat which performed a laundry exchange. He was quickly noticed missing and captured.
Michener was released from prison in 1952 and successfully integrated back into society. As illustrated in his letters following his release, he maintained a close affinity with Warden Swope and his wife through frequent correspondence. Michener died in Los Angeles in May 1997. He was 90 years old.
* * *
From: Elliott Michener Aug. 14, 1939
#55506
To James A. Bennett Leavenworth Penitentiary
Superintendent of Prisons
Dear Sir:
This is a reques
t that you investigate and change some of the unhealthful conditions existing here.
There are, in “C” cell-house here, a number of long-timers awaiting transfer to other penitentiaries. They have broken no rules, and yet are subject to harsher discipline than men in the punishment gang. The latter, for instance, are allowed to go out to work every day; but long-timers like myself are kept locked up, two men to a stuffy cell, for twenty-three hours a day.
The cells are hot, stuffy, and crawling with bedbugs and cockroaches. The narrow space beside the double-deck bunks is not wide enough to walk in. The result is that we must spend our days lying on our bunks, dull-minded and dispirited, and wishing we had a little exercise. At present, the only “exercise” we get is at noon, when we are turned out for a short period in the cell corridor, which is then too crowded for walking.
I have been here for a little more than a month, and have felt half-sick from want of exercise every day of the time. The doctor tells me I need more ventilation-fresh air.
I understand that I am slated for Alcatraz. I do not mind that so much – there, we will at least be given something to do; what I and all the other men awaiting transfer hate, is the five or six months we must lie idle in our cells.
Is there any reason why we couldn’t be given an hour or two of active physical exercise in the fresh air every day? Lord knows there are enough guards to watch us! Or is there any reason why those of us who wish it could not be given a chance to go out and do manual labor with the “punishment” gang? The punishment gang is closely watched.
My outside record may be bad but my inside one is excellent. During the last three-and-a-half years I have been editor of the prison magazine and school teacher at Waupun, Wisconsin prison (which I come direct). Having been trusted with this work there, when I had twice as much time as I have now, it would seem that I could be safely trusted to work under supervision here, until the time of my transfer. Cannot something be arranged?
Letters from Alcatraz Page 35