Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Record

Finding aid

1934/1963

National Archives Catalog

Warden's Notebook Pages, U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz (National Archives series)

National Archives series description for the Alcatraz warden's notebook pages: 1,576 item-level records, one per register number, each with a summary form and an identification photograph. The series note lists five pages whose originals are not extant.

Date
1934/1963
Kind
finding-aid
Source
National Archives Catalog
Retrieved
2026-10-12
NAID
296686
Rights
A description of a series of Bureau of Prisons records (Record Group 129), a United States government record, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The catalog marks the series "Restricted - Possibly" because it may hold newspaper clippings, which may be copyrighted; this archive uses none of them. The item-level notebook pages cited here are marked "Use Restriction: Unrestricted."

The series description says it holds 1,576 item-level records, one for each Alcatraz register number. Each page gives basic summary information and a frontal identification photograph, and sometimes disciplinary reports or clippings. The note adds that some of the information in the pages is incorrect when compared with the more extensive inmate files. This archive therefore gives each page’s entries as printed, labels the catalog’s own description separately, and does not treat the “Reason for Transfer” boxes as findings; they are staff opinion.

The series note lists notebook pages that are not extant: 85-AZ (Capone), 325-AZ (Karpis, the 1936 first-incarceration page), 369-AZ, 714-AZ (Carnes) and 1117-AZ (Johnson). It says the Bureau of Prisons’ 1978 microfilm includes some or all of the missing pages, printed and interfiled, so the images attached to those records may be microfilm printouts. Register numbers 1 to 900 are described as screened and open; higher numbers may be restricted for privacy, though the item records cited here are marked unrestricted.

Notebook pages filed in this archive: Kelly (117); Bailey (139); Doc Barker (268); Gardner (110); Stroud (594); Karpis (325); Davis (271); Sawyer (297); Campbell (322); Lucas (224); Ryan (189); Mulloy (330); Bates (137); Coy (415); Cretzer (548); Hubbard (645); Shockley (462); Thompson (729); Carnes (714); Carbo (1568); Capone (85); Johnson (1117); Cohen (1518); Bulger (1428); Banghart. The National Archives at San Francisco’s lists of inmates by name and by number print only a name and a register number. The fuller case files are a separate series, NAID 622809.

itemNational Archives list of former Alcatraz inmates: Capone, register 85The National Archives at San Francisco lists Alphonse Capone, called Scarface on the list, among former inmates of the U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz, register number 85.itemNational Archives numerical list of former Alcatraz inmates, register numbers 1 to 1576The National Archives at San Francisco's numerical index of former Alcatraz inmates: register numbers 1 through 1576, each with a name. It prints no dates of confinement and no cell.itemComprehensive Case Files of Former Inmates, U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz (National Archives series)National Archives series description of the extant Alcatraz case files on about 1,550 men. Only a few file units are digitized. The series' own inclusive dates are an accession span; the bulk dates of the Alcatraz records are 1934 to 1963.itemAlcatraz (Federal Bureau of Prisons history page)The Bureau of Prisons' history page on Alcatraz names Al Capone among the well-known criminals who did time there, and says most of its prisoners were not well-known gangsters.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for George R. Kelly, No. 117Bureau 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.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Harvey J. Bailey, No. 139Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Harvey J. Bailey, No. 139, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 under a life sentence for kidnapping and holding for ransom; stamped transferred to Leavenworth on 8 September 1946. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Arthur "Doc" Barker, No. 268Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Arthur Barker, No. 268, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 26 October 1935 under a life sentence from the District of Minnesota. A red header records his death in the institutional hospital on 13 January 1939. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Roy Gardner, No. 110Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Roy Gardner, No. 110 AZ, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 for robbery of the mails (District of Arizona); a red header records his transfer to Leavenworth on 8 August 1936. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Robert F. Stroud, No. 594Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Robert F. Stroud, No. 594-AZ, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 19 December 1942 under a life sentence for murder (District of Kansas). The catalog title adds "aka The Birdman of Alcatraz." A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Alvin Karpavicz, No. 325Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Alvin Karpavicz, No. 325, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 6 August 1936 under a life sentence for conspiring to kidnap and transport (Minnesota, St. Paul); stamped transferred to Leavenworth on 2-24-58. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Paul John Carbo, No. 1568Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Paul John Carbo, No. 1568-AZ, received at Alcatraz from the Southern District of California on 24 May 1962 under a 25-year sentence for obstructing interstate commerce by extortion; a red header gives a transfer on 2-6-63. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Volney Davis, No. 271Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Volney Davis, No. 271, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 26 October 1935 under a life sentence for conspiracy to transport a kidnapped person (Minnesota, St. Paul); stamped transferred to Leavenworth on 30 March 1947. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Harry Sawyer, No. 297Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Harry Sawyer, No. 297, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 27 April 1936 under a life sentence for conspiracy under the Kidnapping Act (Minnesota, St. Paul); stamped transferred to Leavenworth on 24 May 1943. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Harry Campbell, No. 322Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Harry Campbell, No. 322, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 6 August 1936 under a life sentence for conspiracy to transport a kidnapped person (Minnesota, St. Paul); stamped transferred to Leavenworth on 28 April 1942. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for James C. Lucas, No. 224Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of James C. Lucas, No. 224, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 24 January 1935 under a sentence for national bank robbery and the Dyer Act (Northern District of Texas); a note records a 1938 federal first-degree murder verdict and life sentence. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for James Ryan, No. 189Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of James Ryan, No. 189, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 under a 20-year sentence and $10,000 fine for post-office (mail) robbery (District of Minnesota); stamped transferred to Leavenworth on 28 April 1942. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Frank B. Mulloy, No. 330Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Frank B. Mulloy, No. 330, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 6 August 1936 under a two-year sentence and $10,000 fine for conspiracy (Western District of Missouri, Kansas City); a red header records transfer to Leavenworth on 25 September 1937. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Albert L. Bates, No. 137Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Albert L. Bates, No. 137, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 under a life sentence for kidnapping and holding for ransom; a red header records his death in the prison hospital on 4 July 1948. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Bernard Paul Coy, No. 415Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Bernard Paul Coy, No. 415, received at Alcatraz from Atlanta on 31 July 1937 under a sentence for conspiracy, bank robbery and related counts (Western District of Kentucky); a typed header records the 2 to 4 May 1946 prison break and that his body was found on 4 May. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Joseph Paul Cretzer, No. 548Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Joseph Paul Cretzer, No. 548, received at Alcatraz from USP McNeil on 27 August 1940 under sentences for bank robbery, escape and second-degree murder; a typed header records the 2 to 4 May 1946 prison break and that his body was found on 4 May. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Marvin Franklin Hubbard, No. 645Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Marvin Franklin Hubbard, No. 645-AZ, received at Alcatraz from USP Atlanta on 7 December 1944 under a 30-year sentence (Eastern District of Tennessee, Chattanooga); a typed header records the 2 to 4 May 1946 prison break and that his body was found on 4 May. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Sam Richard Shockley, No. 462Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Sam Richard Shockley, No. 462, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 23 September 1938 under a life sentence for bank robbery and kidnapping (Eastern District of Oklahoma); a handwritten header records execution in the San Quentin gas chamber on 12-3-48. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Miran Edgar Thompson, No. 729Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Miran Edgar Thompson, No. 729-AZ, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 15 October 1945 under a life sentence for kidnapping and violation of the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act (Northern District of Texas, Amarillo); a handwritten header records execution in the San Quentin gas chamber on 12-3-48. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Clarence Carnes, No. 714Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Clarence Carnes, No. 714-AZ, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 6 July 1945 under sentences for kidnapping and escape from the custody of a U.S. marshal (Western District of Oklahoma); a red header gives a transfer to the Medical Center at Springfield, Missouri, on 1-15-63. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Alphonse Capone, No. 85Bureau of Prisons form with Capone's Alcatraz identification photograph, holding a card numbered 85. It records his receipt from Atlanta on Aug. 22, 1934, his tax sentence, parole denied in 1935, and his transfer to Terminal Island in January 1939.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson, No. 1117Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Ellsworth Johnson, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 14 April 1954 under a 15-year narcotics sentence from the Southern District of New York. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen, No. 1518Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Meyer Harris Cohen, received at Alcatraz on 28 July 1961 under a 15-year income-tax sentence from the Southern District of California. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for James J. Bulger, Jr., No. 1428Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of James J. Bulger, Jr., received at Alcatraz from Atlanta on 13 November 1959 under a 20-year sentence for robbery of an FDIC bank. A copy is stored here.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Basil Hugh Banghart, No. 595Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Basil Hugh Banghart, received at Alcatraz from Joliet, Illinois, on 7 January 1943. A copy is stored here.