| Events | Docu-Links | ||
| Arthur "Doc" Barker* is shot while trying to escape from Alcatraz on the morning of 13 January 1939. | Memo on Barker's Death | ||
| Coroner T.B.W. Leland's jury rules that Barker died of gunshot wounds and expresses its concern at the lax security on the island. Leland adds that Alcatraz is not wanted by the people of San Francisco. | |||
| James V. Bennett promises the installation of new safety equipment and more guards after the Barker escape attempt. | |||
| In a decision which upholds the right of the United States Government to enforce the laws in a national park, Hugh Bowen is denied his writ of habeas corpus by the U.S. Supreme Court. | Bowen vs. Johnston Decision | ||
| Joe Varsalona and Bernard Paul Coy get into a row in the kitchen. Varsalona grabs a knife and wounds Coy. | Coy's Hearing | ||
| Attorney General Francis Murphy calls Alcatraz as a "horror spot" and promises the people of San Francisco that it will be closed. | |||
| The Bureau of Prisons announces new standards for return addresses on outgoing mail from prisoners. Alcatraz inmates protest because they do not want their relatives shamed by public knowledge of their incarceration on the Rock. | Return Address Controversy | ||
| Warden James Johnston appears as keynote speaker at a national gathering of prison wardens and defends Alcatraz as a humane institution. | |||
| "Terror of the Ozarks" Carl Janaway (who has been rooming with Al Capone in the hospital) is transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. | Letter by Janaway | ||
| Atlanta Penitentiary sends several prisoners suspected of involvement in an escape plot, including James Murray. | Murray Report | ||
| Former U.S. Attorney General Homer Cummings's "Why Alcatraz is a Success" appears in Colliers. | |||
| Alcatraz parents ask the Bureau of Prisons to provide a school bus. | School Bus Memo | ||
| Roy Gardner publishes his book Hellcatraz and runs an exhibit at the San Francisco Exposition called "Crime Doesn't Pay". | |||
| * designates extensive inmate biographies additional bios in preparation | |||