Federal Prisons

In 1915, there were 3,000 people incarcerated as federal inmates. By 1930, that number has exploded to 26,000 — and half of them are military prisoners. There are five federal prisons, one of them a women's facility. Also that year, Congress passes an act establishing the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) within the Department of Justice.

In 1933, the FBOP takes charge of what will surely become its most famous facility, Alcatraz Island, in the waters near San Francisco. Previously a military fort, it is the ideal location for a maximum security penitentiary. America's most notorious criminals — including Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and Pretty Boy Floyd — will be confined there. Alcatraz is reserved for the worst of the worst. There is one guard for every five men. The inmate population hovers around 264.

Alcatraz,Guard Tower, Alcatraz Island, SAN FRANCISCO, CA. Library of Congress, c.1933