An island located in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz opened as a prison in 1934, and was home to some of the most violent criminals in the country during its thirty year tenure as a federal penitentiary. The island’s location made it a favorable site for a prison, as cold water temperatures, sharks, and strong tides made escape nearly impossible. The formidable stone fortress has been maintained in its original condition. It is open to the public and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Bay Area. Numerous boat companies ferry passengers back and forth to “the rock” and tours of the cells, infirmary, and prison yard are available. Up until relatively recently, tours also featured an in-cell experience, in which tourists were locked inside to give them a more realistic sense of confinement.
I visited Alcatraz in 1997 because I was (and am) still fascinated by the world of notorious criminals. My sister and I were on vacation to San Francisco and included this into our plans. For me, it was purely kitsch, sprinkled with some danger, despite the suffering that occurred there. I listened intently to the tour-guide tape and imagined, with little success, what it would be like to live there, possibly for the rest of my life. The only part of the tour that pulled at my heart strings, was when it was mentioned that when San Francisco would celebrate New Year’s Eve, the people at Alcatraz could hear the celebratory music along with the laughing and singing of the people carry over the water.
This tour happens to be one of the best run that I have been to. You get a tape recorder that takes you around the prison and allows you to hear stories straight from prisoners. You can only imagine how terrible it must have been to be stuck in one of these small cells on an island knowing that there is no way out.
I thought that the tour of Alcatraz was a very disturbing experience, and I almost felt a sense of isolation just being on the island and hearing about the prisoners lives. However, I feel that the tour is able to share a great deal of history with visitors, especially in that a large portion of it includes the Native American occupation. While not necessarily an enjoyable experience, I felt it was necessarily informative.