# The Washington Times, 22 August 1929, page 11: "Al Capone Goes Literary"

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/clippings/clip-washington-times-1929-08-22-p11/

Short Philadelphia dispatch placing Al Capone in the Eastern Penitentiary in August 1929 as "Prisoner No. 5527," reading a life of Napoleon after minor surgery.

Page 11 of the Washington Times, 22 August 1929. A short item headed "Al Capone Goes Literary" reports that, "Interrupted while reading Ludwig's 'Napoleon' in the Eastern Penitentiary," Capone spoke about a magazine article. It continues: "Capone—alias Prisoner No. 5527—stirred on the edge of the cot," and describes him "In silver-rimmed spectacles and a prison hospital gown—for 'Al' underwent a little surgery recently."

This is the earliest page in this archive that places Capone in the Eastern Penitentiary. The prisoner number is as the dispatch prints it and has not been checked against a prison record. No Pennsylvania commitment record for Capone has been found in an open archive.

## Sources

- Library of Congress, Chronicling America: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026749/1929-08-22/ed-1/?sp=11
- Library of Congress OCR text of this page: https://tile.loc.gov/text-services/word-coordinates-service?segment=/service/ndnp/dlc/batch_dlc_adamsmorgan_ver01/data/sn84026749/00222254644/1929082201/0249.xml&format=alto_xml&full_text=1