Alcatraz Escape 1962 Morris and the Anglins - FBI Files, Books, Bulletins, Posters & Newspapers

Alcatraz Escape 1962 Morris and the Anglins - FBI Files, Books, Bulletins, Posters & Newspapers

2,151 pages of material related to the June 12, 1962, escape from Alcatraz by prisoners Frank Morris and the brothers John and Clarence Anglin.

Thirty-six prisoners were involved in various attempts to escape Alcatraz. Seven were shot and killed, 2 drowned, 5 are unaccounted for, and the rest were recaptured. Two prisoners made it off the island but were returned, one in 1945 (Giles) and one in 1962 (Scott).

Made famous by Clint Eastwood in the movie "Escape from Alcatraz," On the morning of June 12, 1962, guards at Alcatraz Prison discovered dummy faces in the bunks of Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin. A fourth man, Allen West, believed by some people to have been the mastermind, was still in his cell the next morning when the escape was discovered.

An investigation revealed an intricate escape plot that involved homemade drills to enlarge vent holes, false wall segments, and realistic dummy heads (complete with human hair) placed in the beds so the inmates would not be missed during nighttime counts. The three men exited through vent holes located in the rear wall of their cells, they had enlarged the vent holes and made false vent/wall segments to conceal their work. Behind the rear wall of the cells is a utility corridor that had locked steel doors at either end. The three men climbed the utility pipes to the top of the cellblock and gained access to the roof through an air vent (the men had previously bent the iron bars that blocked the air vent).

Then they climbed down a drainpipe on the northern end of the cellhouse and made their way to the water. It is believed they left from the northeast side of the island near the powerhouse/quartermaster building. They used prison-issued raincoats to make crude life vests and a pontoon-type raft to assist in their swim.

A cellhouse search turned up the drills, wall segments, and other tools, while the water search found two life vests (one in the bay, the other outside the Golden Gate), oars, and letters and photographs belonging to the Anglins that had been carefully wrapped to be watertight. But no sign of the men was found. Several weeks later a man's body dressed in blue clothing similar to the prison uniform was found a short distance up the coast from San Francisco, but the body was too badly deteriorated to be identified.

This collection contains:

FBI Files

1,868 pages of files copied from FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., covering the June 12, 1962, escape from Alcatraz.

Despite an extensive investigation by the FBI, which spanned nearly two decades, the agency was unable to conclusively determine whether the three men successfully escaped or perished during their attempt.

Files show an FBI investigation from the breakout in 1962 until the FBI's case was closed in 1980. Morris and the Anglins are officially listed by the FBI as missing and presumed drowned.

United States Marshals Service Wanted Bulletins 2014

While the FBI closed its investigation after December 1979, the case remained open by the United States Marshals Service. In 2014, the federal law enforcement agency released three wanted bulletins that included age regression images of the escapees.

Books

A digital copy of the 1963 book, "Escape from Alcatraz." This 1963 non-fiction book authored by John Campbell Bruce, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, provides a comprehensive history of Alcatraz Penitentiary and details the various escape attempts made by its inmates. Includes coverage of the escape of Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin.

Newspapers

21 pages of American newspaper pages dating from June 12, 1962, to December 17, 1962, caring June 12, 1962 Alcatraz escape articles.