The "Army of Unoccupation"

On April 21, 1935, a group of unemployed people, calling themselves the “Army of Unoccupation,” took over the statehouse in Trenton in a protest demonstration, demanding that the state relief fund, which had run out of money, be funded. Legislators quickly recessed, gathered up their papers and left the building, and by the following day, the group had grown from 20 to 250 people. The demonstrators left the statehouse peacefully on April 29 but promised that they would be heard from in the next election. The first picture shows members of the "army" lounging in the assembly chamber. Note the spittoon apparently left behind by an Assemblyman.