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Alcatraz Incarcerated Gardeners
Alcatraz Historic Gardens
An incarcerated gardener watering plants in the gardens of Alcatraz. 1950s.
Joseph H. Simpson / GGNRA, Park Archives
As early as 1869, incarcerated soldiers began tending the Gardens of Alcatraz. Many of these incarcerated gardeners had no horticulture experience, but with vocational training and donated plants, they were able to transform the barren rock into extensive planted terraces, including a rose garden and cutting gardens overflowing with brightly colored flowers.
When the military left the island to the federal Bureau of Prisons in 1933, the tradition of gardening continued. Mr. Freddie Reichel, the first secretary to Warden Johnston, wanted to maintain the beautiful gardens left by the military, but realized he could not do it alone. With permission from the warden, he recruited men who were incarcerated in the super maximum prison on the island. The work was a privilege: not only did it allow men to be out of their cells and away from the tension of the prison, but it also offered them a chance to create beauty in a forbidding environment.
In a letter to the California Horticultural Society shortly after the prison opened, Reichel wrote:
At first the authorities were fearful of allowing any “resident” loose on the island, even though under the custody of a gun tower officer. Finally, after much heckling on my part, someone was assigned to the west lawn, certainly not on the basis of his horticultural ability but rather because the other residents would have nothing to do with him…I found him not too terrifying and certainly no master mind. For one thing he was amazed to find that plants "were like that" when I explained to him the mysteries of hybridization, starting with an easy-to-manage subject—gladiolus.
Reichel eventually recruited other incarcerated men who proved to be natural plantsmen. Under watch of the guard towers, the gardeners carved the island's west side slopes into terraces and cultivated blooming gardens.
Visit the historic gardeners' profiles below to learn more about their work in the Gardens of Alcatraz .
Stories
After being sentenced for counterfeiting in 1941, Elliott Michener was involved in an escape plot from Leavenworth Prison and then sent to Alcatraz. He spent years on the island's west side creating cottage-style gardens.
Stories
Richard Franseen was sentenced to Alcatraz from 1937 to 1946 for counterfeiting. By 1940, he was assigned to yard duties, tending to a greenhouse and a little garden.
Stories
Albert Smith, found guilty of four counts of robbery, was sentenced to serve 10 to 24 years in prison. He was sent to Alcatraz in 1945 after an attempted escape, and began work duties as a gardener the following year.
