Description:

Stroud Robert



Robert Stroud, "Birdman of Alcatraz" ALS Re: Biased Judge, Movie Deal, & "all out campaign for my release"

 

2pp ALS on blue-lined cream paper inscribed overall and 2x signed in black pen by "Birdman of Alcatraz" Robert F. Stroud (1890-1963), the first time as "Robert Stroud, P.M.B. 594" at top of first page, and the second time as "Bob, Robert Stroud, 594" at the bottom of the second page. Written from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on April 12, 1950.  In near fine condition, with expected paper folds. Each page measures 8" x 10.25".

 

Federal prisoner Robert Stroud, #594 penned this letter from his Alcatraz prison cell in the spring of 1950. The self-educated ornithologist and published author wrote regularly to Fred E. Daw of Coral Gables, Florida, who was a fellow bird enthusiast. All excerpts from Stroud's letter include his original spelling.

 

The letter discusses Stroud's current legal struggle to overturn the rulings of a prejudiced judge by representing himself in a specially convened multi-judge court:

 

"Well, Fred, that judge is one who gave me a raw deal when I first came out here. And since that time he has been told off in open court on two occasions in language that he knew the men addressing him were not capable of employing without couching. He don't like me, and the feeling is mutual, but it is just as well for my mandamus case is now before the circuit court and it is the opinion of prison lawyers here that mine is the first case of the kind originating in this prison that has been drawn under the correct statutes. If I get what I am after, you will read about it Fred. I am attempting to invoke a three-judge constitutional court, and I am requesting the privilege of representing myself. If that is granted and I appear as my own attorney before a constitutional court, I will be opposed by the best attorneys the Government has. If I can hold my end up under these conditions, it will be news, Fred. I remarked to a freeman here who knows me pretty well, 'I am just egotist enough to believe that I can do it.'"

 

Stroud was already a veteran published author in 1950. His 1933 Diseases of Canaries and the 1943 second edition reprint called Stroud's Digest on the Diseases of Birds examined the causes, symptoms, and treatment of common bird diseases. (Stroud's interest in birds began as an inmate of Leavenworth Prison in Kansas.) Stroud planned to cash in on both his book publicity and criminal notoriety by discussing a "picture deal." Stroud's lifestory was eventually depicted in 1962's Birdman of Alcatraz starring Burt Lancaster. It's unknown if this was the same "movie deal" that Stroud mentioned in his letter.

 

One of the most interesting parts of the letter treats Stroud's intervention on the part of a mutual acquaintance named Marc. It appears that Stroud, a twice convicted murderer, had more friends than Marc, who was an egomaniac. Apparently, Stroud's many friends were lobbying to "start an all out campaign for my release" in conjunction with the chided Marc, who "says that then he is going all out to try to spring me." Stroud would die in prison in 1963.

 

Robert Stroud spent 54 years in prison, 42 of which were in solitary confinement. After his initial 1909 arrest for manslaughter, Stroud compounded his sentence by assaulting fellow inmates and staff, as well as by killing a prison guard in 1916. At Alcatraz, prohibiting from caring for birds, he devoted his energies to learning French, studying the law, and writing.

 

A remarkable ALS from the "Birdman of Alcatraz" discussing his damning history of U.S. prisons!

 



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