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THBRare Alcatraz Prison Guard Collection Identified to Fred Freeman, Featuring Hat, Notebook Referencing Prisoners, Prison Gun Check, and More
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
With offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver, Cowan’s holds over 40 auctions each year, with annual sales exceeding $16M. We reach buyers around the globe, and take pride in our reputation for integrity, customer service and great results. A full-service house, Cowan’s Auctions specializes in Am...Read more
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About Auction
LiveJun 22, 2018
Cowan’s American History: Premier Auction, scheduled for June 22, 2018 is comprised of early photographs, documents, manuscripts, broadsides, flags, and more dating from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Late Indian Wars, World War I and II and beyond. Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (502)
- Lot Description
Lot of 10+ items, including:
Hat with plaque on front with "Federal Prison Service / United States / Dept. of Justice."
Guard's Prison Gun Check - for Emergencies, Issued to Fred Freeman at Alcatraz. Metal tag 1.75 x 0.5 in. with "FREEMAN" stamped on it.
Letter from Lu Ann Freeman for Fred Freeman mentioning that the family lived on Alcatraz from 1958-1963 and Fred worked for the Federal Prison Service for 25 years.
Seven blue registration cards, 3 x 5 in., with hole in top for filing. Pre-printed information for: Sentence, Offense, Received, Release Date, Name, Custody, Race, Religion, then columns for Dates and Quarters and Dates and Work Assignments. Most have manuscript notes at bottom.
Cards for:
Gumersindo Gomez, in for Life for Murder-Robbery. Note indicates "Beat to a 'vegetable' by 3 other inmates in dish tank room." No. 1398.John William Anglin, 10 years for Bank Robbery. (No. 1476) "[E]scaped June 1962."
Clarence Anglin, 15 years for Bank Robbery. (No. 1485) "[E]scaped June 1962."
Frank Lee Morris, 14 years for Bank Robbery (No. 1202) "[E]scaped June 1962."
Allen Clayton West, 10 years for Motor Vehicle Theft, (No. 1335). "[A]ttempted escape 1962." West was the fourth member of the June 12 escape conspirators, but he made it on the crumbling edges of his ventilation grate in an attempt to disguise the work the men had been doing on them. The concrete hardened too much and he could not get his grate off (and the hole re-widened) in time to join the other three men. He did reveal the entire plot to the investigators.
Curtis Lee Jones, 5 year for Motor Vehicle Theft (No. 1506). "[S]teel plate in head."
Orville Gene Vinson, 5 years for Robbery-Assault (No. 1450). "[T]hrew cookies in mess hall."
The Anglin brothers and Frank Morris are, of course, the ones who may have escaped on a raft made of raincoats. The raft, or parts of it, was the main evidence recovered over the following days, plus part of a homemade life jacket, a paddle and a wallet wrapped in plastic. Since no bodies were found, and none washed ashore over the next few weeks, it was assumed that the three men drowned or died of hypothermia. However, inconclusive evidence emerged periodically suggesting that they had survived and at least the Anglins were in Brazil.
Then in 2013 a letter was sent to SFPD claiming to be from John Anglin. In it, he said that Morris had died some years ago and his brother, just a few years before the letter was written. John (if it was he) said he had cancer and would turn himself in to get treatment. Those in charge thought the letter inconclusive and ignored it, but it finally came to light a few years later. The official stand is still that the men perished in the cold waters of the Bay.
The collection also includes a small notebook, 4.25 x 6.25 in. Front cover identified to "Fred Freeman / U.S.P ALCATRAZ" and includes a hand-drawn symbol of the Bureau of Prisons. On the pages, Freeman wrote last name, prisoner number, a symbol for race (N, W, Mex., Indian), crime and sentence. The first, for example, is "325 Karpavicz life W Kidnap." Prisoner 1059 is interesting. "Kawakita, life, Japanese, Treason, sadistic, cruel treatment of US prisoners in Japanese prison camp 1944-45" with a later note: (deported). This may be Freeman's record of who was in his section, because it does not include all prisoners. He does not give a cell number or any other identifier.
Objects from the legendary Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary scarcely come to the surface, making this a rare and desirable collection.
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