Franklin W. Johnson is widely remembered as the president who began to move Colby College to its Mayflower Hill location and set it on the road to national prestige, in the face of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II.

In 1920 Colby invited him to join the Board of Trustees - Johnson continued teaching at Columbia until 1929, when President Roberts' death.

[2] 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.

[5] 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.