On November 25, 1959, one of the best-known prisoners on the infamous US island prison Alcatraz petitioned authorities for his release from 43 years in solitary confinement.
Murderer Robert Stroud was popularised as the “Birdman of Alcatraz” for his expert interest in ornithology –– the study of birds – and even wrote a groundbreaking book on the subject.
Originally imprisoned for manslaughter in 1909, Stroud later killed a prison guard and was sentenced to life in solitary confinement at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas.
His interest in birds was sparked when he nursed a nest of small birds found in the prison yard.
Stroud read books from the jail’s library about birds, noting how to feed and nurture them.
Later he began raising canaries and conducted research on birds, before publishing respected books on bird diseases.
Stroud also made vital contributions in the field of bird pathology.
Though he was allowed to conduct his studies in his cell, prison authorities later found that equipment Stroud had requested for his experiments were used to make home-brewed alcohol.
Stroud was then transferred to the notorious island prison of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, which housed some of the most dangerous American criminals, including Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and James “Whitey” Bulger.
Stroud was not allowed to keep birds so instead he turned to writing.
Over the next years, he penned an extensive biography and a book about reforming the US prison system. Authorities refused to publish both works, claiming they glorified criminals.
Stroud’s life was the subject of the 1962 film Birdman of Alcatraz, based on the book by author and prison reform advocate Thomas Gaddis.
Starring Burt Lancaster, it earned the Hollywood actor an Academy Award nomination.
Stroud would never taste freedom, though. His 1959 request to be freed from Alcatraz was turned down, but he was transferred to a mainland prison.
He died in 1963 at the age of 73 in a medical centre for federal inmates.
