Skip to main content Skip to Search Box

Definition: Alcatraz from Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary

Rocky island, San Francisco Bay, California, ab. 4 mi. (6.4 km.) NW of San Francisco, opp. the Golden Gate; U.S. fortification and penitentiary, estab. 1868 for military prisoners and 1934 for federal prisoners, closed 1963.


Alcatraz Island Prison

From The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America
The U.S. penitentiary on Alcatraz Island is perhaps the most famous of all American prisons. Located on the 12-acre island in San Francisco Bay, California, it stands as a reminder of the public's desire to shield itself from dangerous offenders. Originally a military fort that protected the San Francisco seaport, it eventually evolved into a disciplinary barracks for military prisoners. In 1907, Alcatraz ceased operations as a fort and was designated a U.S. military prison. It operated as a military prison until 1933. The soaring costs associated with its upkeep eventually convinced military officials to close the facility and withdraw from the island. Shortly after the military abandoned the island, the Department of Justice acquired it and turned it into a federal prison. Alcatraz operated under the auspices of the Federal Bureau of Prisons from August 1934 until 1963 and was one of only 11 federal prisons in existence during the early 20th century. The bureau intended for Alcatraz…
52 results

Full text Article Alcatraz

From World of Criminal Justice, Gale
Alcatraz Island, aerial view (AP/Wide World...
Among twentieth-century U.S. prisons , Alcatraz was legendary as much for its location as its notorious inmates. Situated on an island in San Francisco Bay, the prison sat atop steep, barren cliffs which gave it its nickname, “The Rock.” Escape into the deep bay waters around it was thought to be…
| 728 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article Alcatraz

From Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable
(Spanish Isla de los Alcatraces , 'island of the pelicans'). A notorious US prison on the rocky island of the same name in San Francisco Bay. First used as a place of detention for military offenders in 1868, it later accommodated civilian prisoners. From 1934 it housed the most dangerous civilian…
| 163 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Alcatraz

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(ăl'kӘtrăz´´) [Sp. Álcatraces =pelicans], rocky island in San Francisco Bay, W Calif, about one mile (1.61 km) north of San Francisco. Alcatraz was first sighted by the Spanish in 1772 (and possibly three years earlier). Its name derives from the presence of a pelican colony, but Spanish and Mexican…
| 262 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Alcatraz Island, occupation of

From Encyclopedia of the American Indian in the Twentieth Century
1969–1971 In late 1969, a group known as Indians of All Tribes led an unarmed takeover of the abandoned prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Begun on November 20, 1969, the occupation lasted more than 16 months and became the catalyst for the Red Power movement of the early 1970s. …
| 1,097 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Alcatraz

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary Full text Article Geographical Names
| 13 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article San Francisco Bay

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate , a strait between two peninsulas. The bay is as deep as 100 ft (30 m) in spots, with a channel 50 ft (15 m) deep maintained through the sandbar off the Golden Gate. San Francisco is on the southern…
| 287 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Bomberry, Daniel R.

From Encyclopedia of the American Indian in the Twentieth Century
(b. 1945–d. 1985) Salish-Cayuga activist, editor, publisher Daniel Richard Bomberry was born on March 24, 1945, near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to a Coastal Salish mother and a Cayuga father; his grandfather, Daniel Bomberry, was a “condoled” chief of the Cayuga. (A “condoled” chief is one…
| 1,087 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Pit River

From Encyclopedia of the American Indian in the Twentieth Century
Achomawi (Pit River), Atsugewi (Pit River) During the latter half of the 20th century, a bitter land-claims battle raged in northern California between the Achumawi and Atsuge (also known as the Pit River Indians) and a number of large utility and logging companies. In the mid-19th century, the Pit…
| 730 words
Key concepts:
1 BF Battlefield BP Battlefield Park BS Battlefield Site HP Historical Park HS Historic Site HT Historic Trail IS International Historic Site LS Lakeshore MM Memorial MO Monument MP Military Park MR Monument and Preserve NR Reserve NP Park PA Preserve and Addition PE Park and Expansion PO Park, …
| 8,982 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Olds, Sharon

From A to Z of Women: American Women Writers
(b. 1942–) poet, professor One of the preeminent voices in contemporary American poetry, Sharon Olds has written twelve volumes of highly descriptive, personal, and sometimes shockingly explicit verse about physical and metaphysical pleasure and pain. Born on November 19, 1942, in San Francisco, …
| 1,135 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources