Mugshot of Robert Stroud, also known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz." Stroud raised and sold birds while a prisoner at Leavenworth Penitentiary, but was not allowed to while incarcerated at Alcatraz.

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary officially closed on March 21, 1963, after 29 years of operation. It remains one of the most famous prisons in the world and has become one of the most popular National ...

From notorious prison to Native protest site, Alcatraz reveals how power, punishment and resistance shaped California and still resonate today.

"It caught the public's imagination," says Heaney. "We will be dead and gone for years, and people will still be saying, coming off the boat: 'That's Alcatraz.'" iStockphoto Frank Heaney can't escape ...