Joseph Constantine Harrison — Alcatraz Inmate AZ-4

Full Name: Joseph Constantine Harrison
Alcatraz Register Number: AZ-4
Born: approximately 1907, reportedly in West Virginia
Died: reportedly 1976
Military Status: U.S. Army soldier before imprisonment
Conviction: Sodomy under military law
Sentence: Five years
Convicted: February 27, 1932, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
Entered Federal Alcatraz registration: June 19, 1934
Released from Alcatraz: July 29, 1935
Disposition: Discharged

The National Archives' official inmate index confirms that Joseph Constantine Harrison was Federal Alcatraz inmate number 4, making him one of the very first men entered on the register when Alcatraz became a federal penitentiary.

Early Life

Very little verified information about Joseph Constantine Harrison's childhood and family has survived in easily accessible public records.

Historical research places his birth at approximately 1907 in West Virginia. One complication is that the 1930 United States Census reportedly lists two men named Joseph C. Harrison at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, both born in West Virginia and separated in age by only about two years. Because of this, researchers should be cautious about assigning detailed family information from census records to the Alcatraz prisoner without first obtaining his original military or inmate case file.

What is much more firmly established is that Harrison was serving in the United States Army in Hawaii by the early 1930s.

Military Service and Conviction

While stationed in Hawaii, Harrison was convicted under military law of sodomy.

On February 27, 1932, he was sentenced in Honolulu to a term of five years imprisonment. Historical summaries of Harrison's prison record give the following sentence information:

• Sentence: Five years

• Conviction date: February 27, 1932

• Place: Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii

• Reported parole eligibility date: October 28, 1933

• Minimum sentence date: August 18, 1935

• Maximum expiration date: February 26, 1937

• Known prior criminal record: None reported

• Detainers: None reported

These details are preserved in secondary historical research based on the early Alcatraz prisoner records.

It is important to understand Harrison's case in its historical setting. His conviction was a military offense, and the laws and regulations of the period criminalized consensual same-sex sexual activity. Harrison should therefore not be described on a historical website as a violent sexual offender unless original case documents establish facts beyond the stated military conviction.

Imprisonment Before Federal Alcatraz

Harrison's association with Alcatraz is unusual because he belonged to a group of military prisoners whose presence on the island overlapped the transition from an Army disciplinary institution to a federal penitentiary.

Before the Bureau of Prisons operated Alcatraz, the island had served for decades as a military prison. Harrison was associated with the Pacific Branch of the United States Disciplinary Barracks, and records cited by researchers indicate that he was transferred into the new federal Alcatraz system from that military institution.

This is why Harrison received such a remarkably low prisoner number.

He did not arrive as part of the famous August 1934 shipment of hardened federal prisoners from mainland penitentiaries. Instead, he was among prisoners already connected with the military institution when the Bureau of Prisons assumed control.

Alcatraz Inmate No. 4

June 19, 1934

On June 19, 1934, Joseph Constantine Harrison was formally entered into the federal Alcatraz prisoner register.

He received:

ALCATRAZ NO. 4

The official National Archives inmate roster begins:

1. Frank Lucas Bolt

2. Charles R. Copp

3. Leon Harold Gregory

4. Joseph Constantine Harrison

5. Forrest B. Henry

6. Clyde F. Hicks

Harrison was therefore among the first 32 inmates registered under the new federal administration.

Several of those earliest prisoners were former military inmates rather than nationally notorious gangsters. Historical research identifies a group of early prisoners convicted under military sodomy laws, including Frank Lucas Bolt, Harrison, Clyde Hicks, Alan Hood and several others.

That makes Harrison's story quite different from the popular image of Alcatraz as a prison populated exclusively by bank robbers, kidnappers, murderers and organized-crime figures.

Why Was Harrison Sent to Alcatraz?

Alcatraz is generally remembered as the prison reserved for America's most difficult federal inmates.

Joseph Harrison does not appear to fit that later profile.

Available historical information indicates:

• He had no known previous criminal record.

• His conviction occurred while he was serving in the Army.

• His sentence was only five years.

• There is no evidence in currently accessible sources that he was a violent criminal.

• There is no known escape attempt involving Harrison.

• There is no evidence that he became a major disciplinary problem at Alcatraz.

His presence is best explained by the institutional transition taking place on the island.

The men numbered AZ-1 through AZ-32 were associated with Alcatraz during the change from military control to federal control. They consequently received the earliest federal register numbers.

Life at Alcatraz

Harrison's stay took place during the very beginning of Warden James A. Johnston's administration.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons was still transforming the former Army prison into the institution that would later become famous throughout the world.

The regime emphasized:

Security — discipline — routine — restricted privileges — individual accountability.

Prisoners lived in individual cells and were expected to work, maintain their cells and comply with a tightly controlled daily schedule.

Unlike later Alcatraz prisoners, Harrison would have witnessed the institution while many of its most famous procedures were still being established.

He was on the island before or during the arrival of many inmates whose names later became synonymous with Alcatraz.

Harrison and the Famous Alcatraz Prisoners

Harrison's number can easily create the mistaken impression that he was one of the first major federal criminals specifically selected for imprisonment on "The Rock."

He was not.

The first major mainland shipment of federal prisoners arrived later in 1934.

Famous inmates subsequently assigned much higher numbers included men such as:

Al Capone — AZ-85

George "Machine Gun" Kelly — AZ-117

Alvin Karpis — AZ-325

Joseph Harrison's AZ-4 designation instead reflects the transition of prisoners already connected with the military prison system into the new federal register.

Release From Alcatraz

Harrison remained at Alcatraz for a little more than one year under the federal administration.

He was discharged on July 29, 1935. Historical summaries indicate that his minimum sentence date had been August 18, meaning his discharge came roughly three weeks before that date.

He was not transferred to another major federal penitentiary according to the currently available summaries.

His disposition is listed simply as:

DISCHARGED

This separates Harrison from many better-known Alcatraz inmates who were eventually transferred to institutions such as Leavenworth, Atlanta, McNeil Island or the federal medical center at Springfield.

How Long Was Joseph Harrison at Federal Alcatraz?

June 19, 1934 – July 29, 1935

That equals approximately:

1 year, 1 month and 10 days

under the federal Alcatraz administration.

Because Harrison had been associated with the military prison system before the federal registration date, his total connection with imprisonment at Alcatraz may require examination of his original military and federal records to establish precisely.

Did Joseph Harrison Attempt to Escape?

No known escape attempt has been attributed to Joseph Constantine Harrison.

His name does not appear among the prisoners involved in the recognized federal Alcatraz escape attempts.

He was released before Joseph Bowers made what is generally considered the first escape attempt of the federal penitentiary era on April 27, 1936.

What Happened to Harrison After Alcatraz?

This is currently one of the largest gaps in his biography.

Secondary historical research identifies a Joseph Constantine Harrison born in 1907 and dying in 1976, but publicly accessible documentation tying the later life of that individual conclusively to Alcatraz inmate AZ-4 is limited.

Because there were numerous men named Joseph Harrison—and even two possible Joseph C. Harrisons appearing at Schofield Barracks around the relevant period—it would be irresponsible to create a detailed post-Alcatraz life story without stronger archival documentation.

For the website I would therefore list:

Death: reportedly 1976 — further documentation required.

rather than presenting it as completely confirmed.

Historical Significance

Joseph Constantine Harrison is not famous because of a spectacular crime or escape.

His importance to Alcatraz history comes from something different.

He was Alcatraz Federal Prisoner No. 4.

His story provides a window into the brief and often overlooked period when Alcatraz changed from an Army disciplinary prison into America's most famous federal maximum-security penitentiary.

He also represents a category of early prisoners whose circumstances differed significantly from the violent gangsters and repeat escape artists for whom Alcatraz was later designed.

The National Archives still lists HARRISON, JOSEPH CONSTANTINE — Register No. 4, and states that its San Francisco facility holds extensive Alcatraz records including inmate case files, identification photographs and warden's notebook pages for most prisoners.

Joseph Constantine Harrison — Timeline

DateEventc. 1907Reportedly born in West VirginiaBy 1930Serving in the U.S. Army in HawaiiFebruary 27, 1932Convicted under military law in Honolulu1932Sentenced to five yearsJune 19, 1934Entered the federal Alcatraz registerJune 19, 1934Assigned Alcatraz No. 41934–1935Imprisoned under Warden James A. JohnstonJuly 29, 1935Discharged from Alcatraz1976Reported year of death; archival confirmation desirable