He introduced a bill to add the list of Harvard reducators into the city's official records, but the measure was defeated by a block vote of the more liberal Cambridge party, the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA).
Even the liberals supported Lynch in his next effort though--a bill to require the registration of all Cambridge communists. But the law was struck from the books after being pronounced illegal by the city solicitor.
When his efforts at containing communism through legislation failed, Lynch decided to meet the professors on their own turf. In December, 1950 a debate was held in Emerson Hall between Lynch and alleged reducator, History Professor Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. '38. The topic was "How to Combat Communism in the U.S."
Uncontainable Harvard
But even as Lynch targeted Harvard for its politics, the University was preparing for a major expansion that lasted throughout the 1950s.
"The universities were much smaller prior to World War II," says Duehay, who traces the wartime infusion of federal funds as the impetus for Harvard's interest in expansion.
In 1950, Harvard dedicated a huge new center for graduate student housing that included seven dormitories as well as one classroom building. In 1951, construction on the Holmes wing of what is now Pforzheimer hall was announced. Plans for applied science labs also went up in 1951-- all with little complaint from Cambridge residents or the City Council.
According to the Harvard University publication ITALICSITALICSITALICS Growth and Change at Harvard: Ten Years in Statistical Summary, the university added more than 1.3 million square feet to its properties in the decade from 1954-1963--a more than 20% increase.
In the next decades, Harvard pushed its borders outwards and upwards.
In 1966, Holyoke Center--an administrative high rise that more recently had its first floor devoted explicitly to serving the needs of tourists --was constructed.
And in 1970, Harvard expanded into the previously residential "Kerry Corner" neighborhood with the construction of Mather House elbowing into the Irish immigrant settlement.
But more recently, Cambridge's increasing liberalism has shifted the focus of town/gown conflict. No mention has been made for years of Harvard's politics in City Council meetings. Yet Harvard expansion has come under constant fire.
Both neighbors and City Council members have joined together to slow the pace of Harvard growth in Cambridge. A town that is now content with the politics of the institution next-door has found major discontent in the unceasing growth of the institution's grounds.