Frank Luther Mott was an American historian and journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 of Quaker

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 descent.

Mott was born in Rose Hill, Iowa. He taught English at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa and was the head of the Journalism Department at the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 (UI) for twenty years until his appointment as Dean of the University of Missouri

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

 (MU)'s School of Journalism in 1942.

After having coined the term photojournalism

Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...

in 1924, Mott was influential in the development of photojournalism education: the first photojournalism class was taught at UI during his tenure, and the first photojournalism program, directed by Clifton C. Edom

Clifton C. Edom

Clifton Cedric "Cliff" Edom , often credited as the "Father of Photojournalism", was prolific in the development of photojournalism education.-Biography:...

, started at MU in 1943 upon his request.

His book, A History of American Magazines, won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for History

Pulitzer Prize for History

The Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography...

; and Volume 4 of said work won the Bancroft Prize

Bancroft Prize

The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948 by a bequest from Frederic Bancroft...

 in 1958.

Mott served as president of Kappa Tau Alpha

Kappa Tau Alpha

Kappa Tau Alpha is an American college honor society which recognizes academic excellence and promotes scholarship in journalism and mass communication...

 from 1937–1939. He died in Columbia, Missouri

Columbia, Missouri

Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...

.

Select bibliography

• Editor, Interpretations of Journalism: A Book of Readings with Ralph D. Casey, 1937.
• A History of American Magazines, 1938.
• Golden Multitudes: the Story of Best Sellers in the United States, 1947.
• The Old Printing Office with John DePol, 1962.
• American Journalism, a History, 1690-1960, 1962.