Throughout history, military intelligence, the practice of gathering, analyzing, and utilizing information on opponents to exploit their weaknesses or defend one’s own, has been a cornerstone for several successful nations. Nations that are constantly one step ahead of their enemy frequently come out on top; however, military intelligence has only been professionalized within the last century. Over the course of the last one hundred years, the United States has been one of the many nations at the forefront of the evolution of military intelligence. While individual cases where intelligence has been used are easy to judge in their effectiveness, my question is: has military intelligence been truly worthwhile to the United States since its professionalization in 1917? My study attempts to answer whether or not the resources and effort put into gathering and analyzing intelligence by the United States military has been worthwhile over the years. In order to provide insight to this question, I examine how military intelligence has been gathered, analyzed, and utilized by the United States and its allies, and how it has evolved over the course of the twentieth century using reports, documents, and other primary sources. Alongside this, I also provide examples of times where military intelligence (or lack thereof) has contributed to success and failure in battle or diplomacy. I hypothesize that despite some failures, military intelligence has proven invaluable to the United States military and is responsible for many successes over the years.

From 1972 to 1974 in El Paso, Texas, Chicana women partook in a strike against the Farah Manufacturing Company due to unfair labor practices. As the workers sought unionization, they received support from the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA). The Farah strike encapsulates the struggle for Chicana women’s labor rights in the Southwest of the United States and shows a continuation of the broader Chicano movement taking place in the country. This study analyzes various media sources, including oral histories, newspapers, pamphlets, and news documentaries/films. While most literature about the strike focuses on the company owner William Farah, the ACWA, and the striking women, an analysis of external involvement as that of the Catholic Church and strike support committees has been missing from the story of the strike. As part of the strike and boycott efforts, Catholic Bishop Sidney Metzger and various Farah Strike Support Committees across the nation played a significant role in garnering support for the strikers. The support of the Church and Farah Strike Support Committees shows general American interest in continuing equity for minorities across class, gender, and labor lines. My research helps us understand why these outside groups supported the striking women. And how these supporters differed in how they viewed the strikers and the strike as a movement.

During the 1980s the United States confronted the AIDS epidemic, arguably the most significant health crisis of the post-1945 era. One of the biggest populations affected by the epidemic was the LGBTQ+ community, more specifically gay men and transgender people. Due to the rise of family values in conservatism under the Reagan administration, the national government did very little to mitigate the virus’ impact on America’s Gay community. Even more egregious, Black gay men and transgender people were, and still are, more likely to contract and suffer the harsh effects of AIDS, and activism from White Queer Americans did not help to reverse the problem. This presentation examines the activism of the Black Queer communities in Los Angeles as shown through a variety of articles in LGBTQ+ newspapers in the latter half of 1980s. These publications indicate that there was particular collectivization and activism amongst the Black LGBT Americans in Los Angeles that created solidarity and identity for a community that was facing a major health crisis, combined with homophobia and racism.