Clyde Findell Hicks was born in Oak Grove, Durham, North Carolina on September 5, 1910. On April 13, 1930 at the age of 20, he was listed as a soldier residing in Barracks #158 at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii.

On August 7, 1931 Hicks was sentenced to six years in prison for the crime of sodomy with an early parole date of August 7, 1935. After serving almost 3 years of his sentence on June 19, 1934 he was transferred to the infamous maximum security prison of Alcatraz of the coast of San Francisco becoming one of the first prisoners on the island.  Even though he wasn’t a hardened criminal as some of the other inmates were he was put into Solitary on December 3 and 4, 1934 for “for conveying a note from one prisoner to another”.  Two other prisoners were put in Solitary that day, and stayed in much longer, for causing a ruckus and planning an escape. The note may have contained information concern this plan.

Despite his solitary confinement, Clyde seems to have otherwise been on his best behavior, he was discharged on his minimum sentence date, August 7, 1935. 

Clyde Hicks who spent 4 years in prison for his desires for other men a year later married a girl named Mary Wolfe of Mt. Airy on December 19, 1936.

Clyde Hicks passed away in Durham, North Carolina on December 5, 1993.

There are those who claim his ghost returned to Alcatraz Island to haunt the prison for being  incarcerated there for the crime of loving another man.