By: History.com Editors

1959

The Birdman of Alcatraz asks a court to set him free

History.com Editors

This Day In History: The Birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud, is allowed a small taste of freedom, November 23, 1959

American Stock/Getty Images

Published: November 13, 2009

Last Updated: January 31, 2025

On November 25, 1959, four months after being released from 43 years of solitary confinement and transferred to the mainland from the penitentiary on Alcatraz island, Robert Stroud, the famous “Birdman of Alcatraz,” asks a federal judge to set him free. Stroud gained widespread fame and attention when author Thomas Gaddis wrote a biography that trumpeted Stroud’s ornithological expertise.

Stroud was first sent to prison in 1909 after he killed a bartender in a brawl. He had nearly completed his sentence at Leavenworth Federal Prison in Kansas when he stabbed a guard to death in 1916. Though he claimed to have acted in self-defense, he was convicted and sentenced to hang. A handwritten plea by Stroud’s mother to President Woodrow Wilson earned Stroud a commuted sentence of life in permanent solitary confinement.

Alcatraz

Get all the facts and figures about the island of Alcatraz, commonly known as "The Rock".

For the next 15 years, Stroud lived amongst the canaries that were brought to him by visitors, and became an expert in birds and ornithological diseases. But after being ordered to give up his birds in 1931, he redirected his energies to writing about them and published his first book on ornithology two years later. When the publisher failed to pay Stroud royalties because he was barred from filing suit, Stroud took out advertisements complaining about the situation. Prison officials retaliated by sending him to Alcatraz, the federal prison with the worst conditions.

In 1943, Stroud’s Digest of the Diseases of Birds, a 500-page text that included his own illustrations, was published to general acclaim. In spite of his success, Stroud was depressed over the isolation he felt at Alcatraz, and he attempted suicide several times. The legendary “Birdman of Alcatraz” died in a Missouri prison in 1963 at the age of 73.

7 Infamous Alcatraz Inmates

The federal penitentiary housed not only hardened criminals, but also people the government wanted to make an example of.

LANCASTER, BIRD MAN OF ALCATRAZActor Burt Lancaster as Robert Stround in the film "Bird Man of Alcatraz". (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)

By: Aaron Randle

Timeline

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1952

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1960

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1970

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Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge sinks to the bottom of Lake Washington

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Citation Information

Article title
The Birdman of Alcatraz asks a court to set him free
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 25, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 31, 2025
Original Published Date
November 13, 2009

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