Photographs Illustrating the Facilities and Activities of the Bureau of Prisons (National Archives series)

National Archives series of photographs of federal prisons and camps, mostly from about 1930: buildings, living conditions, dining, recreation and custody procedures. Three items from it are filed here.

Date: 1930/1970
Kind: finding-aid
Source: National Archives Catalog
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
NAID: 532602
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 use and access "Unrestricted."

The series holds black-and-white and color photographs of federal penal institutions and camps, mostly from about 1930, showing buildings and grounds, living conditions, dining, recreation, custody procedures and vocational training. A finding aid lists the institutions depicted; it was not opened for this archive. The photographs are held at the National Archives at College Park, in Still Pictures.

Searched within the series, the catalog returned two Alcatraz items dated 24 June 1957 (dining room and serving counter) and one Lewisburg item dated 9 October 1947 (exterior). Searches for Leavenworth, Terminal Island, Marion and Atlanta within the series returned nothing.

itemAlcatraz dining room, 24 June 1957: "Following noon meal, inmates are checked back into cellhouse" (National Archives)Bureau of Prisons photograph of the Alcatraz main dining room on 24 June 1957. The catalog's caption reads that inmates are checked back into the cellhouse after the noon meal.

itemAlcatraz serving counter, 24 June 1957: "After count is secure, culinary employees can eat" (National Archives)Bureau of Prisons photograph at Alcatraz dated 24 June 1957 of men in white uniforms at a serving counter. The catalog's caption reads that culinary employees can eat after the count is secure.

itemExterior of Lewisburg Penitentiary, 9 October 1947 (National Archives)Bureau of Prisons photograph dated 9 October 1947 of the exterior of the United States Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: a brick building with a tall tower. The catalog's caption reads "Lewisburg Letter."