The Upper Prison: Seven Prisons

Army Prisoners c. 1902

The Army built a large wooden prison building on the Parade Ground in 1905 to accommodate US Military prisoners sent to Alcatraz from posts in the Philippines. Soldiers like George Bender, convicted of arson, joined the 500 prisoners put to hard labor at Fort Alcatraz. One day Bender set the building on fire. No one died and the fire was extinguished, but fear of fire in the wooden building, especially after the 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco, led the Army to consider building a new prison. 

Should mental health care be provided to people incarcerated in prisons?