On March 21, 1963, Alcatraz, the most secure prison and a symbol of American justice across the nation, closed its doors for good. Frank Weatherman, a gun smuggler and jailbreaker who was the last prisoner to leave the island, gave a fitting epitaph to 29 years on the island as the most brutal federal prison in the nation.
Life Magazine sent photographer Leigh Wiener to cover a closing day at Alcatraz on March 21, 1963. The vast majority of his photographs were never published until his son Devik rediscovered them 45 years later. In 2012, the Golden Gate National Park Conservancy published Wiener’s photos in the book Alcatraz: The Last Day.
