Alcatraz warden's notebook page for George R. Kelly, No. 117
Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of George R. Kelly, No. 117, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 under a life sentence for kidnapping from the Western District of Oklahoma. A copy is stored here.
- Date
- 1934-09-04
- Kind
- photograph
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- NAID
- 236734340
- Rights
- A Bureau of Prisons record, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. Series "Warden's Notebook Pages" (NAID 296686), Records of the Bureau of Prisons (Record Group 129), National Archives at San Francisco. The National Archives catalog marks the item "Use Restriction: Unrestricted." The series note says that some information on the pages is incorrect when compared with the fuller inmate files, and that clippings in the series may be copyrighted; this page is a prison form. The copy stored here is a downsample of the first digitized image.
The National Archives catalog titles this page “KELLY, GEORGE B. “MACHINE GUN” - Alcatraz Number 117 - Warden’s Notebook.” It is a Bureau of Prisons notebook form with an identification photograph at the upper right; the placard in the photograph reads 117. It belongs to the series Warden’s Notebook Pages (NAID 296686).
The typed entries, as printed: name “George R. Kelly,” No. 117, received 9-4-34 from Leavenworth, age 39, date of birth 1895. Offense “Kidnapping,” dated Oct. 12, 1933; sentence “Life”; district sentenced “W/Okla.” A handwritten note at the top reads “Trf. to Leav 5-29-51.” The “Reason for Transfer” box is a staff opinion, not a finding, and is not repeated here; it recommends transfer with maximum custody. The page also lists, under former institutional rule violations, a report of 4-5-34 with the action taken, and a criminal-history column, which this page does not transcribe.
Catalog data, which is NARA’s description and not a reading of the page: offense “KIDNAPPING [& HOLDING FOR RANSOM (URSCHEL)]”; received at Alcatraz 09/04/1934 from US Penitentiary, Leavenworth; transferred 05/29/1951 to US Penitentiary, Leavenworth; birth date 07/17/1900; death date 07/17/1954 at Leavenworth, Kansas. The records differ with one another: the catalog title prints “GEORGE B.” while the page and the National Archives’ alphabetical inmate list print “GEORGE R.”, and the page’s 1895 birth year differs from the catalog’s 1900. This archive records both and does not choose. The comprehensive case file is catalogued separately; see the case-file entry.
