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Record

Finding aid

1934/1963

National Archives Catalog

Comprehensive 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.

Date: 1934/1963
Kind: finding-aid
Source: National Archives Catalog
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
NAID: 622809
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 newspaper articles and some photographs in the files may be subject to copyright and the files may be restricted for privacy; individual file units need a page-by-page check.

The series description covers the extant case files on about 1,550 men held at the U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz. It says a file may hold biographies, progress reports, commitment papers, mail and visitor logs, legal papers, medical records, identification photographs and rap sheets, as well as files made by other federal prisons. It names Al Capone, Robert Stroud, fourteen members of what it calls the Barker-Karpis gang and five members of what it calls the Touhy gang among the “more famous” inmates; those group labels are the catalog’s.

The series record’s own inclusive dates are “ca. March 1975 - ca. 1988,” which is the span of its accession. The 1934 to 1963 date used here is the bulk range printed on the National Archives at San Francisco’s inmate list. The file units carry their own dates. Only some file units are digitized; those catalogued for this archive include Kelly (1,410 pages), the Anglin brothers and Bulger. Capone’s file unit, NAID 117695842, is not online.

itemWarden'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.itemCapone's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 85 (National Archives catalog entry)Catalog entry for Capone's comprehensive Alcatraz inmate case file, 2,688 pages, not yet online. The description gives receipt from Atlanta on 22 August 1934, transfer on 4 January 1939, and death on 25 January 1947 at Miami Beach.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.

itemGeorge Kelly's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 117 (National Archives catalog entry)Catalog entry for the Alcatraz case file of register no. 117, with 1,410 digitized pages. The description gives receipt from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 and transfer back on 29 May 1951.

itemClarence Anglin's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 1485 (National Archives catalog entry)Catalog entry for the Alcatraz case file of register no. 1485, with 525 digitized pages. The description gives receipt on 16 January 1961 and an end date of 11 June 1962, the date of the escape; the catalog remark reads presumed dead.

itemJohn Anglin's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 1476 (National Archives catalog entry)Catalog entry for the Alcatraz case file of register no. 1476, with 465 digitized pages. The description gives receipt on 24 October 1960 and an end date of 11 June 1962, the date of the escape; the catalog remark reads presumed dead.

itemJames Bulger's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 1428 (National Archives catalog entry)Catalog entry for the Alcatraz case file of register no. 1428, with 580 digitized pages. The description gives receipt from Atlanta on 13 November 1959 and transfer to Leavenworth on 25 July 1962.