Finding Carl Cotton
Alert
Before the summer of 2019, I’d never heard of Carl W. Cotton. Six months later, I’d met his family, and one of his childhood friends. I knew his work duties each month for 20 years (and when he took sick days). I’d talked incessantly to anyone who would listen about his life. And now I’ve written an exhibit about him.
Carl Cotton (1918–1971) was a taxidermist, artist, and exhibition preparator who worked at the Field Museum from 1947 until his death in 1971. He is the Field Museum’s first African American taxidermist, maybe even Chicago’s first professional one. And we at the Museum knew almost nothing about him.
Thanks to a group of supportive people in and outside of the Museum, I’ve been able to sketch a portrait of a humble, talented man who was passionate about nature and the art of taxidermy. Cotton spent almost 25 years creating beautiful exhibitions behind the scenes, never expecting to be the subject of one. As I kept digging, I found more and more of myself in Cotton’s story. Like me, he made exhibits on the fourth floor of the museum. Like me, he was a black person working at an institution with a complicated racial history. When visitors see this exhibit, I hope they see themselves in Cotton’s passion and determination to follow his dreams. Here’s a glimpse at how we uncovered this partially hidden figure.
Carl Cotton places individual letters on a label for an exhibition featuring hybrid birds.
Cotton repairs the tail on one of the elephants in Stanley Field Hall, originally taxidermied by Carl and Delia Akeley.
During a Members’ Night in 1966, Cotton shows visitors a zebra hide ready for display.
Carl Cotton and taxidermist Pete Lambert (left) work on a display about the animal kingdom in 1957.
The moment of discovery
When Reda Brooks (Exhibitions) showed me a photo of Carl Cotton she’d found in the Field Museum’s 125th anniversary book, a million questions flashed through my mind. A black man? A taxidermist? 1950?? I wasn’t alone. For years, a small group of Cotton fans around the Museum—who each held a piece of the puzzle—had wondered the same thing.
Reda Brooks was searching for museum staff to honor during Black History Month when she stumbled across this photo of Carl Cotton.
Latoya Flowers
Cotton at work on the Nile marsh diorama in 1953. In addition to preparing every bird, he also replicated each lily pad by hand, bringing the East African habitat to life.
Finding the Cotton family
Carl Cotton enthusiast Mark Alvey (Science and Education) and I scoured the internet for family members. He scanned obituaries and sent letters. I ran Ancestry.com searches and sent hopeful DMs. One Saturday morning, I got an excited call from Carl’s grandson. When our social media team tweeted asking for more information about Carl, his granddaughter and widow also responded.
I am Gail Cotton, Life Member 3067, Field Museum "Facebook Top Fan". My late husband Carl worked at the Field following his service in the U.S. Navy in WWII until shortly before his death on July 5, 1971. PM me via Facebook for more.
— Gail Cotton (@gdcwork) July 24, 2019
Interviewing a Chicago legend
Timuel Black—a Chicago historian and activist—and Carl Cotton were childhood friends. Both born in 1918, they grew up together near Washington Park. Black, now 101, serendipitously visited the Museum around the time I discovered this connection. When Reda and I asked to interview him, he enthusiastically agreed. My favorite part of the interview was when Black joked about Cotton’s early interest in taxidermy, “cats and rats ran when they saw Carl.”
Timuel and his wife Zenobia Black welcomed us into their home, where we recorded his early memories of Carl Cotton and the Field Museum.
Latoya Flowers
Sleuthing in the archives
With the help of Library and Archives staff, a few interns and I transcribed Zoology Department reports detailing Cotton’s monthly tasks, which included preparing skins and mounting birds for displays. Careful cross-checking between the reports, archival photographs, and the knowledge of collections managers helped us identify previously unknown Cotton specimens. This is my proudest bit of detective work.
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A zoology report from September 1950 states that Mr. Cotton was “working on an exhibit to show ‘Adaptive Coloration’” for six and a half days.
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A quick search of our Photo Archive pulled up an old image of the exhibit Adaptive Coloration.
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When I sent the photo to another Cotton enthusiast, Tom Gnoske (Collections), he realized a few of the taxidermied specimens were still hanging around the Birds Department. One of them, this Bittern hiding in tall grass, was on display in a classroom I’ve been in countless times.
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Cotton’s early letters
Tucked away in Cotton’s personnel file were letters he’d sent to the Field. In 1940, he wrote to the director of the Museum in search of a taxidermy job. He was turned down, but didn’t give up. In 1947, he sent another, more detailed, passionate letter offering to volunteer. The next week he was hired, and a month later he was promoted to full-time. When Archivist Armand Esai sent me this letter, I teared up. After months of looking at impersonal reports, this was the first thing I’d seen written by Cotton himself. It showed a man driven by his passion, willing to take bold action, and undeterred by rejection.
For years taxidermy has been my main interest and hobby and my ambition is...not doing just ‘average’ taxidermy but turning out work comparable to that of Carl Akeley, Leon Pray, Leon Walters and other artists. This will require a certain ‘know how’ that I can acquire only through the experience and exactness of museum training.
Carl Cotton
Cotton’s 1947 letter to Clifford C. Gregg, then the head of the Field Museum.
Family day
On a cloudy day in September 2019, four generations of the Cotton family journeyed to the Field to spend a day celebrating Carl. We showed them everything we’d found so far; they shared loving memories and helped us fill in the gaps. Seeing their joy at reuniting with Carl—and each other—was one of the happiest days I’ve had at the Field.
Birds collections manager and taxidermist Tom Gnoske gave the family a tour of Cotton’s work still on display today.
Latoya Flowers
TJ—Cotton’s great-grandson—looks at a bird display created by him.
Latoya Flowers
Tori’s favorite finds
Here’s a collection of my favorite tidbits that we didn’t have enough space to talk about in the exhibition.
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Meredith Whitfield (Exhibitions) messaged the Chicago Tribune’s photo archives on Twitter (@VintageTribune) about this image of Cotton installing a bird display. They quickly found the photo, which the paper had published in 1958.
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The Art Institute of Chicago’s archivist helpfully located these matriculation cards; Cotton took evening classes in sculpture and figure drawing around the time he created the Nile diorama.
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Cotton’s daughter Ruthye sent us this photo of him in the Navy during World War II.
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On exhibit
When I went looking for Carl Cotton, I found more than a few photos and handwritten reports. I met family members, archivists, and taxidermy enthusiasts around Chicagoland. I made new connections within my own workplace community. And I found my voice while trying to lift up someone else's.
Tori at the entrance to the exhibition about Cotton's life and work.
