George "Machine Gun" Kelly
Alcatraz register no. 117. The warden's notebook page records receipt from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 under a life sentence for kidnapping; the National Archives records his birth year and middle initial two ways.
- Died
- 1954-07-17
- Aliases
- Machine Gun, George R. Kelly (notebook page and National Archives list), George B. Kelly (catalog title)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state. The identification photograph is a Bureau of Prisons record, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.
On the record
- 1934-09-04 — The warden's notebook page (NAID 236734340) records him received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth, age 39, offense "Kidnapping," dated Oct. 12, 1933, sentence "Life," district "W/Okla."
- 1934-09-04 — The National Archives catalog description of the same record prints the offense as "KIDNAPPING [& HOLDING FOR RANSOM (URSCHEL)]."
- 1951-05-29 — The page carries the handwritten note "Trf. to Leav 5-29-51"; the catalog gives a transfer on 05/29/1951 to US Penitentiary, Leavenworth; the case file's folder cover is stamped "TRANSFERRED TO LEAVENWORTH MAY 29 1951" (NAID 117696360).
- 1954-07-17 — The catalog description gives a death date of 07/17/1954 at Leavenworth, Kansas (USP).
- 1895 or 1900 — Birth year: the page prints 1895; the catalog prints a birth date of 07/17/1900. The middle initial also differs: the page and the National Archives' alphabetical list print "GEORGE R."; the catalog title prints "GEORGE B." This page records both.
- 1934/1963 — The Bureau of Prisons' Alcatraz history page lists "George 'Machine-Gun' Kelly" among the well-known criminals who did time on Alcatraz.
Kelly is on this archive as a man with a filed Alcatraz record, not through a biography. The National Archives lists him at register number 117 and holds a warden’s notebook page and a case file of 1,410 digitized pages. The page and the catalog agree on the dates of his Alcatraz term, 4 September 1934 to 29 May 1951. The role and family fields are left empty because no record cited here states either. Offenses are given as the notebook form prints them; the “Reason for Transfer” boxes are staff opinion and are not used.
Records
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.
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.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.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.