Franklin Winslow Johnson (August 17, 1870 - February 19, 1956) was the President of Colby College

Colby College

Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...

, Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, from 1929-1942. Franklin W. Johnson is widely remembered as the president who began to move Colby College to it's Mayflower Hill location and set it on the road to national prestige, in the face of The Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 and the beginning of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Early Life

Johnson was born in Jay, ME in 1869. He was schooled at Wilton Academy, a Bates College Preperatory School of Calvinist Baptist learnings (now called Academy Hill School, for grades 3-6). In the fall of 1887 in a departure from his schooling so far, he chose to enter Colby, a Free Baptist institution at the time, and graduated in 1891.

His first job after graduating was principal of Calais High School

Calais High School

Calais High School is a regional high school in Calais, Washington County, Maine. The school encompasses students from Baring, Charlotte, Robbinston, Crawford, Alexander, Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation, Passamaquoddy Indian Township Reservation, Perry, and Princeton among other small...

, during which time he met and married his wife Carolyn. In 1894 they moved to Waterville and Johnson took a job as the principal of the Coburn Classical Institute. In 1905 he moved to Chicago to become the principal of Morgan Park High School

Morgan Park High School

Morgan Park High School , located in Chicago, Illinois, at the intersection of 111th street and Vincennes Avenue is a public high school that opened its doors on its present site in 1916, as part of the Chicago Public Schools...

, and in 1907 became principal of the progressive and controversial University of Chicago High School, part of the school system created by John Dewey

John Dewey

John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...

, and now known as the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools is a private, co-educational day school in Chicago, Illinois. It is affiliated with the University of Chicago...

.

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 he served in the Army Medical Service. After the war, he rejoined John Dewey

John Dewey

John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...

 at Teachers College

Teachers College, Columbia University

Teachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...

 at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. In 1920 Colby invited him to join the Board of Trustees - Johnson continued teaching at Columbia until 1929, when President Roberts' death. Already known and well-respected, Johnson was quickly selected as the new president.

Presidency at Colby

Johnson was inaugurated at the age of 60 in 1929, 2 years after Arthur Roberts had left the college on medical leave under a faculty committee, and weeks after the death of his wife.

Johnson reportedly donated an amount higher than his annual salary to the capital campaign for moving the campus.

He launched the Maine Million, a fundraising campaign to find one million dollars from Maine donors to support the continued construction of the Mayflower Hill campus.

Johnson retired in 1942, when colleges nationwide were suffering from declining male enrollment caused by WWII and educational resources made scarce by the war effort. Lorimer Chapel, Roberts Union, Miller Library, Runnals Hall, and East and West Quad were under construction. In 1948, Johnson Pond was dedicated in his name, and he rowed around the pond to celebrate.

Published Works

• The Coburn Classical Institute (article), The centennial history of Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine. June 23rd, 1902.