Exhibit About Alcatraz Currently Open on Ellis Island
Former inmate Robert Luke at Exhibit
The very name, Alcatraz, stirs fear and a twinge of excitement at the thought of the stories of the men incarcerated there. From 1934 to 1963 Alcatraz Island served as the first maximum security federal prison in the United States. It was hoped that the location would make it escape-proof, and therefore, a good place to put the worst-of-the-worst.
Some of the criminals housed at Alcatraz included Chicago gangster Al Capone; Robert Stroud, known as the Birdman of Alcatraz; kidnapper George “Machine Gun” Kelly; bank robber Floyd Hamilton, an accomplice of Bonnie and Clyde; Arthur “Doc” Barker and Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, members of the infamous Ma Barker Gang; Roy Gardner, last of the “Old West” train robbers; and “Bumpy” Johnson, the Godfather of Harlem.
CONTINUE READING…
In the early twentieth century, those without sight were marginalized members of society. They had no job options and no mobility, and had to rely on the kindness of someone who might lead them or help them with whatever needed to be done.
Walk west on Spring Street, through SoHo, past the enticing restaurants and the tempting clothing shops, and after you pass Varick Street, you will come to a fire house that still looks like a fire house, but this one welcomes you in to hear stories and see old fire trucks and other memorabilia from some 225 years of fire fighting in Manhattan. The museum itself is a gem that is worthy of visits from old and young.
Last week I wrote about baseball catcher Roy Campanella. Reading his autobiography sent me in search of who, what, when, where, and why about the end of discrimination in professional baseball.