Have you ever wondered what’s the toughest jail in the United States is? Have you ever wondered if anybody has ever escaped it? Have you ever wondered how someone could escape it? Frank Morris was in the toughest jail in the U.S, and he has escaped it. The mystery of Frank Morris can be explored through his childhood, how he broke out, and theories on if he is still alive.Frank Morris had a sad childhood, as he was orphaned and was in and out of jail from a young age. Frank Morris’s mother died when he was very young. “From his infant years until his teens Morris was shuffled from one foster home to another.”(The Great Escape from Alcatraz - Page 1 ,2) . Frank committed his first crime at the age of 13. Frank got in a lot of trouble when he was in his childhood from in and out of jails from the age of 13 for robbery and offences.Frank Morris was a young guy who was by himself and that's what started him getting into jails and that eventually let to being incarcerated at Alcatraz. Frank Morris had a very high I.Q and found a plan to escape alcatraz.“The plan was extremely complex and involved the design and fabrication of ingenious lifelike dummies, water rafts, and life preservers, fashioned from over fifty rain coats that had been acquired from other inmates - some donated and some stolen. They would also require a variety of crudely made tools to dig with, and to construct the accessories necessary for the escape.”(The great escape from Alcatraz- page 1, 6). In May of 1962 they had dug through the 6 by 9 cell holes and were ready to take off. The Anglin Brothers had a cell right next to each other. Frank Morris was working with the Anglin brothers ( John and Clarence) were working with them along with Allen West.While the plan was in the process …show more content…
of working the Anglin brothers made dummy heads out of water, soap, and dust, all things that you can find in your cell. But, what about the hair? The brothers worked in the prison barber shop and collected the hair off the ground. The heads were crude but lifelike, and were constructed from a homemade cement-powder mixture that included such innocuous materials as soap and toilet paper. They were decorated with flesh-tone paint from prison art kits, and human hair from the barbershop.” The process of the group getting all of this done is hard but they managed to get out.There are many different theories on if Morris is still alive and all of the evidence around that. Some people think that he died in a fire, some people think that he died on the way to land, and other people think that they ran away to Rio.“Though the FBI still maintains active arrest warrants for all three men, they are officially listed as missing and presumed drowned, victims of the frigid waters and swift currents of San Francisco Bay. But the inmates’ bodies were never found, and some people continue to believe that Morris and the Anglins may have survived. On March 21, 1963, less than a year after the escape attempt, the federal prison”(Pruitt 7). Some people think that Morris died in a fire. Some people wonder, did he dye in a fire, a close friend of Morris said that he had been killed in a fire. He supposedly burned so bad that he died in the hospital. You might be wondering if he was in the hospital, wouldn't they of found him because of the information that the hospital? Well people all have there own opinion on what happened to Frank Morris. It is unclear if Frank Morris is still alive, but we do know his background, how he broke out and theories on if he is still alive.
They might not be the best theories, but these are the ones that the FBI has figured
out.
Lawrence Willoughby, an African American male, was born in 1881 in Pitt County, North Carolina. He was the son of Lannie Anderson and X Willoughby. Lawrence married at 22,a woman by the name of Jennie Best on December 20, 1903. Records says that the two married in Pitt County, North Carolina. They had eight children in 13 years. He died on August 4, 1951, in Greenville, North Carolina, at the age of 70.
This was the only theory that could make sense to me when considering all the suspects,
The prison, opened in 1876, was started by seven prisoners who built the first few cells. As more cells were build more prisoners were taken in and more manpower was available to build bigger, better, and faster. There were 3,069 prisoners, 26 of them female, through the 33 year run of the prison at 350 a time, most of them having crimes ranging from rape to murder and many more in between. No matter how cunning or dangerous the criminals were they didn’t have much chance to escape. Armed guards, deadly heat, spanning desert, the already secure structure, and rapid rivers that held no hope for any prisoner were all topped off by a Lowell gun which was superior to the Gatling gun at the time. Manufactured by the Ames Mfg. Co. it could fire up to 1000 times a minute and was said to be accurate up to 1000 feet under certain conditions making it fearsome to any prisoner dreaming of a false freedom.
On July 1st 1934, Alcatraz opened officially as a federal prison. Previously, the island of Alcatraz was a military prison that held criminals from the American Civil War. Alcatraz was meant to hold only the most disruptive inmates so they could learn how to follow rules. Alcatraz inmates lived under harsh conditions with few privileges.
The thought of Alcatraz started in the 1920’s when gangsters were fighting and killing just about everyone they saw that posed a threat. This was happening because they had made a new law. This law was called the National Prohibition Act. Even though it was illegal so many people wanted to buy alcohol. So the criminals ruled. Some criminals started to sneak alcohol in from other countries. Soon after that Illegal bars opened. This caused a lot of trouble. People couldn’t contain these “super gangsters.” They kept selling the alcohol and making a greater, and greater profit. Most of them lived like kings, they paid the police and local politicians to leave them alone. Even from regular prisons they controlled everything, criminals ruled they paid the guards and kept in touch with their people on the outside. This was when Homer C. Cummings made Alcatraz. This place was for the toughest of the tough. In this essay I will explain Alcatraz.
Al Capone once said about Alcatraz " Don't mistake my kindness for weakness, I am kind to everyone, but when someone is unkind to me, weak is not what you are going to remember me about." One of the most dreaded prisons in America was Alcatraz, it was built on an island in the San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz was made for the United States most dangerous and difficult people during its years of being operated. Even though Alcatraz was built as a top end prison it was possible to escape, however it seemed prisoners never made it off the island alive.
Prisons have dated back to the twentieth century when the United States had almost two million people confined in prisons or jails. Prisons have been a form of government punishment that has shaped our nation to what it is today. The first jail was established in Philadelphia, in 1970. It was called the Walnut Street Jail and was recorded as the first use of imprisonment through solitary confinement. The basic principles of the new system were to reform those in prison, and to segregate those according to age, sex, and type of offenses charged against them (Schoenherr). The second prison was called Sing-Sing a...
Walter Ingils Anderson was born on September 29, 1903 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Annette McConnell Anderson and George Walter Anderson. Anderson lived an adolescent life that consisted of switching from school to school; he finished his schooling at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Upon receiving a scholarship to study abroad, Anderson traveled to France and became fascinated with the cave paintings. He returned to Ocean Springs, Mississippi and married his wife, Agnes Grinstead. In 1937, Anderson was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent most of his adult life in mental institutions, that he always escaped. He left Agnes and their four children to go and live in a Cottage on what is now the Shearwater pottery compound. He spent the following 18 years commuting back and forth from the cottage to Horn Island. Walter Anderson died on November 30, 1965, with most of his artwork destroyed because he did not care for his work.
Alcatraz Island has quite a distinct history. Many people know that Alcatraz served as a federal prison, but most are reluctant to know that this island served as fort. Built before the Civil War, it served two main purposes. First, that it was to guard the San Francisco bay area from enemy ships against a foreign invasion, and second, to hold hostage prisoners of war or POW's as they were called. In this report, I'll show you how this fortress came to be a federal prison, why it is no longer in operation today, and most importantly, to show why it was built in the first place. When the great "Gold Rush" of 1849 first started, California grew from what would be considered a small, unpopulated state, into what it is now. California is now one of the most populated states and it was mostly the gold rush that brought attention to California. As the government saw all of this happening, they realized that California was much more important than they ever realized. In their realization, they decided that California must be protected. San Francisco has one of the largest bays in all of California, and so this was where enemy countries would most likely to try to invade the country. So this is where Alcatraz was to lie, to serve as a military fort. It was supposed to serve as a secondary base in companionship to another base located on the other side of Golden Gate Bridge. But with severe problems trying to build this other base, Alcatraz was to remain alone. "Out in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, the island of Alcatraz is definitely a world unto itself. Isolation is just one of the many constants of island life for any inhabitant on Alcatraz Island. It is the most reoccurring theme in the unfolding history of Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz Island is one of Golden Gate National Recreation Area's most popular destinations, offering a close-up look at a historic and infamous federal prison long off-limits to the public. Visitors to the island can not only explore the remnants of the prison, but learn of the American occupation of 1969 - 1971, early military fortifications and the West Coast's first and oldest operating lighthouse. These structures stand among the island's many natural features - gardens, tidepools, bird nests, and bay views beyond compare." (1) Fortress Alcatraz ran in operation from 1850 - 1933. It served as San Fr...
Anne Frank is a Jewish girl who had to go into hiding during World War II because Margot, her sister, had gotten a call slip that she was going to go to a concentration camp. The Franks had bust a move and went into hiding at the Secret Annex. The Secret Annex is attic apartment behind Otto Frank’s business and it’s located at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. Otto Frank was not only concerned about his own family being safe but also the Van Daans who also went into hiding at the Secret Annex with them. The Van Daans were Peter Van Daan, Auguste Van Daan, and Hermann Van Daan. They were hiding in the Secret Annex for two years and then all of them were arrested and deported to Westerbork transit camp. If I were Anne Frank I think that I wouldn’t be able to do the same as Anne Frank.
In 1962, one of the greatest escape attempts was undertook. Frank Lee Morris, the mastermind of the outbreak, was destined to be able to figure out how to break out of Alcatraz. He had escaped from multiple prisons before. The escape plan took months, but once completed it would leave thousands puzzled how they managed it. Frank, Clarence, and John started by collecting tools. These tools were used to dig through
We stepped off the large tour boat with a look of fright in both our eyes. Some joy was there, but knowing what went on in this place made us feel the way we did. To me, Alcatraz didn't really look like a shut down prison at that moment. It looked more like an old worn down cemetery. The paint on most of the buildings was chipped off all the way down to the wood. Most of the buildings had collapsed down to some cement foundations and old rusted poles hanging every other way. As we walked to the building where you start your tour, that was probably the only building at this place with cleanliness to it. They gave us our tour headphones, which take you through the whole prison with a audio guide telling you how it was in the prison. Not just how it was for the prisoners, but how it was for the guards too.
On June 11, 1962 three prisoners tried to escape from the most feared prison in America better known as “the rock”. Not even the notorious prisoners could escape. Frank, Clarence and John desperately wanted to show everyone that they could escape from Alcatraz. It was almost impossible to escape from. Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin died trying to escape from Alcatraz because the waters were too dangerous, too cold, and most people failed trying to escape.
The mass media uses prison life as the source for movies and television shows. Over the years there have been many movies written about prison but the most prominent in my mind is Frank Darabont’s, The Shawshank Redemption. Throughout the film there are many examples of the falsities of prison life. There are some elements of truth but they are out weighed by the misconceptions. Numerous prisoners are allowed to walk around the prison and the prison yard with no guards in sight. In actuality there are always guards around, especially on the inside. The prisoner’s movement through the prison is highly restricted.