Recreation Yard
23/11/2004
Alcatraz, San Francisco
Those who did not work had to spend the entire day, except for meal times, in their cells. They could not earn money to buy magazines, bridge tutors, musical instruments, art supplies, and other pleasures. They could not accrue extra "good time" days which would be deducted from their sentence.
The industries were the only place the prisoners were allowed to talk to each other. Though they were not supposed to discuss anything other than their jobs, civilian shop foremen often looked the other way as the men quietly socialized.
Each day, the workers lined up in the walled recreation yard next to the Cell House. Queue by queue, they walked down the steep flight of stairs to the industries.