Paul J. Madigan — Third Warden of Alcatraz, 1955–1961

Full Name: Paul Joseph Madigan
Born: March 13, 1897 — Maple Lake, Minnesota
Died: December 25, 1974 — Minnesota
Occupation: Federal prison official and warden
Alcatraz Position: Third Warden of the United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz
Term as Warden: 1955–1961
Predecessor: Edwin B. Swope
Successor: Olin G. Blackwell

Paul Joseph Madigan occupies a particularly important place in the history of Alcatraz because, unlike the island's other federal wardens, he rose through the ranks of the Alcatraz staff itself. He served at the prison as a correctional officer and in increasingly responsible supervisory positions before eventually becoming warden. His long association with the island gave him firsthand experience with its inmates, officers, security procedures and unique residential community.

Madigan was also directly involved in one of Alcatraz's serious escape attempts years before becoming warden. By the time he was placed in charge of the penitentiary in 1955, he was therefore not simply an administrator transferred to an unfamiliar institution—he was an Alcatraz veteran who had spent much of his federal prison career learning how the Rock operated from the inside.

Early Life

Paul Joseph Madigan was born March 13, 1897, in Maple Lake, Minnesota. Publicly available biographical records identify him as a Minnesota native and give his lifespan as 1897–1974.

Compared with his later career at Alcatraz, relatively little reliable, readily accessible documentation survives online about Madigan's childhood and early adult years. His historical importance rests primarily on his lengthy career in the federal prison system and especially on the many years he spent associated with Alcatraz.

What is clear is that Madigan eventually entered federal corrections and became one of the most experienced members of the Alcatraz staff.

Arrival at Alcatraz

When the Department of Justice converted Alcatraz into a federal maximum-security penitentiary in 1934, the institution was intended to house prisoners considered especially difficult, dangerous, disruptive or prone to escape.

Madigan joined the Alcatraz staff during the prison's early federal years and began his career there as a correctional officer. He subsequently served in positions including lieutenant, captain and associate warden. Historical accounts describe him as the only one of Alcatraz's four federal wardens to rise through the prison's internal staff hierarchy before receiving the top job.

This background made Madigan substantially different from a warden brought in from another institution. He understood the physical layout of the island, the cellhouse, industrial buildings, guard procedures and the day-to-day realities faced by officers.

He also knew many of the men who worked for him personally.

The 1941 Escape Attempt

One of the most important events of Madigan's pre-warden career occurred on May 21, 1941.

Four prisoners—Joe Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Arnold Kyle and Lloyd Barkdoll—attempted to escape while working in the industrial area of Alcatraz. They seized several correctional officers and held them hostage.

Madigan was among the officers involved.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' official history of Alcatraz, the officers, including Paul Madigan, succeeded in convincing the four inmates that escape was impossible. The prisoners eventually surrendered.

The confrontation demonstrated one of the qualities that later became associated with Madigan's administrative style: he was capable of dealing directly with prisoners rather than relying exclusively on force.

Accounts of the incident vary in some secondary details, but the Bureau of Prisons explicitly confirms both Madigan's involvement and the fact that the prisoners surrendered after officers persuaded them that the escape could not succeed.

The incident became an important part of Madigan's Alcatraz career.

Rising Through the Ranks

Madigan continued advancing through the Alcatraz organization.

Over the course of his career he served at various times as a:

• Correctional Officer

• Lieutenant

• Captain

• Associate Warden

• Warden

This progression was unusual and ultimately distinguished him from the other three men who served as federal wardens of Alcatraz.

Federal records also document Madigan as a senior official at Alcatraz before he became warden. An Official Register of the United States lists Paul J. Madigan among the personnel of the United States Penitentiary at Alcatraz while Edwin B. Swope was warden.

By the early 1950s, Madigan had accumulated decades of practical prison experience.

Becoming Warden of Alcatraz

In January 1955, Edwin B. Swope left the wardenship of Alcatraz.

Paul J. Madigan was selected to succeed him.

Madigan became the third Warden of the United States Penitentiary at Alcatraz, following:

1. James A. Johnston — 1934–1948

2. Edwin B. Swope — 1948–1955

3. Paul J. Madigan — 1955–1961

He would remain warden for approximately six years before being succeeded by Olin G. Blackwell.

His appointment represented a major achievement for a man who had once worked as an ordinary correctional officer on the island.

Madigan's Style as Warden

Madigan developed a reputation for being somewhat different from his predecessors.

James A. Johnston had established Alcatraz's highly disciplined federal regime. Edwin Swope was remembered as a particularly firm administrator. Madigan, while still responsible for maintaining maximum security, was generally characterized as more approachable and less rigid in his dealings with both officers and inmates.

Historical accounts describe him as a man who listened.

That did not mean Alcatraz became an easy institution under Madigan. The prison remained a maximum-security facility where movement was tightly controlled, prisoners were repeatedly counted and virtually every aspect of daily life was regulated.

Madigan's distinction was primarily one of management style rather than abandonment of security.

He understood that maintaining control of Alcatraz depended not only on walls, gun towers and steel doors but also on the cooperation and professionalism of the people working inside the institution.

The 1956 Alcatraz Rules and Regulations

An important surviving artifact from Madigan's administration is the 1956 edition of the Institution Rules and Regulations of the United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island.

The booklet carried Madigan's name as warden and explained the standards under which prisoners were expected to live.

A surviving page from the regulations, preserved online through Wikimedia Commons, even shows the official arrangement expected inside an Alcatraz prisoner's cell.

The regulations demonstrate that, despite Madigan's comparatively approachable reputation, life at Alcatraz continued to be governed by extraordinarily detailed rules.

Order and security remained central to his administration.

Escape Attempt During Madigan's Administration — Floyd Wilson

Contrary to some simplified accounts of the period, escape attempts did occur while Madigan was warden.

The first occurred on July 23, 1956.

Prisoner Floyd Wilson disappeared from his work assignment at the Alcatraz dock. Rather than immediately entering the Bay, Wilson hid among rocks along the island's shoreline.

A search was organized.

After several hours, Wilson was discovered and surrendered. The Federal Bureau of Prisons includes the incident in its official history of Alcatraz escape attempts.

Wilson never made it off the island.

The 1958 Burgett and Johnson Escape Attempt

A much more serious escape attempt occurred on September 29, 1958.

Prisoners Aaron Burgett and Clyde Johnson were assigned to a garbage detail when they overpowered a correctional officer and attempted to escape into San Francisco Bay.

Johnson was captured in the water.

Burgett disappeared.

A large search failed to find him immediately, raising the possibility that he had successfully escaped. Approximately two weeks later, however, Burgett's body was found floating in the Bay.

The incident reinforced the enormous danger facing anyone attempting to swim from Alcatraz.

Madigan's years as warden therefore included two recognized escape incidents: Floyd Wilson in 1956 and Aaron Burgett and Clyde Johnson in 1958.

Frank Morris Arrives at Alcatraz

One of the most famous prisoners ever associated with Alcatraz arrived during Madigan's administration.

Frank Lee Morris was transferred to Alcatraz in January 1960.

Morris would later become the central figure in the legendary June 1962 escape with brothers John and Clarence Anglin.

However, that escape did not occur while Madigan was warden.

Madigan left Alcatraz in 1961. Olin G. Blackwell was warden when Morris and the Anglin brothers disappeared in June 1962.

This point is particularly important because the 1979 Clint Eastwood film Escape from Alcatraz portrays a fictional unnamed warden throughout Morris's imprisonment.

That movie character should not be treated as a portrayal of Paul Madigan. The filmmakers created a fictional composite warden rather than using Madigan or Blackwell as a direct historical character.

Robert Stroud During Madigan's Administration

Another famous prisoner still confined at Alcatraz during the Madigan years was Robert Franklin Stroud, popularly known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz.”

Stroud had been at Alcatraz since 1942 and remained there throughout Madigan's administration.

His fame eventually increased enormously following the publication of books and, later, the 1962 film Birdman of Alcatraz.

Madigan therefore governed Alcatraz during a period when several inmates who would become permanent parts of American popular culture were behind its walls.

The Madigan Family on Alcatraz

Alcatraz was more than Madigan's workplace.

His family lived on the island.

Like the other wardens, Madigan occupied the large Warden's House near the cellhouse. Prison employees and their families formed a small community that included housing, recreational facilities and regular ferry transportation to San Francisco.

Madigan and his wife provided an extraordinary glimpse into that life in 1957 when television cameras were permitted to visit the island.

Edward R. Murrow Visits Alcatraz — 1957

On May 3, 1957, legendary CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow featured Paul Madigan and his family on the television program Person to Person.

The broadcast was remarkable because television cameras had rarely been permitted inside Alcatraz.

Madigan appeared on camera and discussed both the penitentiary and life on the island. His wife was also interviewed from the Warden's House.

During the program, Madigan showed Murrow the remarkable view from the Warden's House, including portions of San Francisco and the Bay.

His wife explained that despite living only yards from one of America's most notorious prisons, Alcatraz was simply home to the families living there.

The broadcast is especially valuable today because it allows historians and Alcatraz enthusiasts to see and hear the real Paul J. Madigan rather than an actor portraying a fictional warden.

Madigan's Memories of Prison Life

The 1957 interview also revealed something about Madigan's understanding of the emotional side of imprisonment.

During the television appearance, he discussed how difficult holidays could be for inmates. Christmas Eve, in particular, could be an extremely lonely period inside the cellhouse.

This fits the broader historical picture of Madigan as a security-conscious administrator who nevertheless recognized that prisoners were human beings.

His approach did not eliminate Alcatraz's strict regulations, but it appears to have made him more personally approachable than some other administrators.

Legal Cases During His Wardenship

Because a federal prison warden was the legal custodian of prisoners, Madigan's name appears in several federal court cases involving Alcatraz inmates.

One of the best-known was John Lee v. Paul J. Madigan.

The litigation reached the United States Supreme Court, where the case appears as John Lee, Petitioner, v. Paul J. Madigan, Warden, Federal Penitentiary, Alcatraz, California.

Madigan's appearance in the case title does not mean that the dispute involved personal misconduct by him. In federal habeas corpus proceedings, the prisoner's custodian—the warden—was ordinarily named as the respondent.

The case provides additional official documentation identifying Madigan as Warden of the Federal Penitentiary at Alcatraz during the late 1950s.

The Growing Question of Alcatraz's Future

By the late 1950s, Alcatraz was becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain.

The island environment was exceptionally hard on buildings. Saltwater and damp air damaged concrete and steel, and nearly everything needed by the institution had to be transported across San Francisco Bay.

Questions increasingly arose within the federal government about whether operating the island prison remained worthwhile.

Madigan's administration therefore represented part of the final era of Alcatraz.

He would leave before the prison actually closed, but the debate over Alcatraz's future was already well underway during his wardenship.

Leaving Alcatraz

Madigan's term as warden ended in 1961.

He was transferred from Alcatraz to the United States Penitentiary at McNeil Island, Washington, where he continued his federal prison career as warden. Contemporary reporting documents the Justice Department's announcement of the transfer.

His successor on Alcatraz was Olin G. Blackwell, who had served as Madigan's associate warden beginning in 1959.

Blackwell became the fourth and final warden of Alcatraz.

Only two years later, on March 21, 1963, the federal penitentiary closed permanently.

Later Life and Death

After leaving Alcatraz, Madigan remained associated with the federal prison system, including service at McNeil Island. Historical material from McNeil Island identifies him as warden there after his Alcatraz period.

Paul Joseph Madigan died on December 25, 1974, at the age of 77. Biographical records place his death in Minnesota.

His career had carried him from the lower ranks of federal corrections to command of America's most famous maximum-security penitentiary.

Paul Madigan's Legacy

Madigan's importance in Alcatraz history goes far beyond the fact that he was its third warden.

He had experienced the institution from several levels.

He had been:

an officer, a supervisor, a hostage during an escape attempt, a senior administrator and finally the warden.

Few people understood Alcatraz from so many different perspectives.

His involvement in the May 21, 1941 escape attempt demonstrated that he had personally confronted the dangers faced by Alcatraz officers. His subsequent rise through the ranks showed the confidence senior federal prison officials placed in him.

As warden, he maintained the institution's strict security structure while developing a reputation for being more approachable than his predecessor.

He also presided over an important transitional period. By the time Madigan left in 1961, the institution that had once symbolized the federal government's determination to isolate its most troublesome prisoners was approaching the end of its useful life.

Madigan therefore represents both the old Alcatraz of James Johnston's disciplined maximum-security experiment and the final Alcatraz of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Paul J. Madigan — Quick Facts

Full Name: Paul Joseph Madigan
Born: March 13, 1897
Birthplace: Maple Lake, Minnesota
Died: December 25, 1974
Age at Death: 77
Occupation: Federal prison official
Alcatraz Position: Third Warden
Warden: 1955–1961
Predecessor: Edwin B. Swope
Successor: Olin G. Blackwell
Previous Alcatraz Positions: Correctional officer, lieutenant, captain and associate warden
Major Pre-Warden Incident: May 21, 1941 escape attempt and hostage incident
Escape Attempts During His Wardenship: Floyd Wilson, 1956; Aaron Burgett and Clyde Johnson, 1958
Television Appearance: Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person, May 3, 1957
Later Assignment: Warden at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary
Historical Distinction: The only Alcatraz warden who rose through the ranks of the Alcatraz staff before becoming warden.

Verified Video Footage of the Real Paul J. Madigan

1. Inside Alcatraz Footage from 1957 with Warden Madigan Interview

This is the most valuable Madigan video I found.

It contains historical footage from 1957 and includes the real Warden Paul J. Madigan. The footage derives from the period when Edward R. Murrow's cameras were allowed onto Alcatraz. Search indexing identifies the video specifically as containing a Madigan interview.

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQYk3Dl1Xrs

Title: Inside Alcatraz Footage from 1957 with Warden Madigan Interview

This is particularly useful for a website because visitors can see what Madigan actually looked and sounded like.

2. 1956 Alcatraz Tour — Silent Historical Footage

This is genuine historical Alcatraz footage from 1956, while Madigan was warden.

The video's indexed description specifically identifies Paul J. Madigan walking through the prison with others and entering the cafeteria.

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lq5GC75iaA

Title: 1956 Alcatraz Tour (Silent)

Although there is no dialogue, it provides excellent visual footage of Madigan inside the operating federal penitentiary.

Important Note About Escape from Alcatraz

The unnamed warden played by Patrick McGoohan in the 1979 Clint Eastwood film Escape from Alcatraz is not Paul J. Madigan.

Madigan was the actual warden when Frank Morris arrived at Alcatraz in 1960, but Madigan left in 1961. Olin Blackwell was warden when Morris and John and Clarence Anglin escaped in June 1962.

The movie combined elements of the historical administration into a fictional warden character, so photographs or video of Patrick McGoohan should never be presented as Madigan on a historical Alcatraz website.